SESAMm recently announced its successful Series B2 fundraising round. The news was covered by VentureBeat, a technology news and analysis website that covers a wide range of topics related to the business and culture of innovation.

Here are some excerpts, first published on VentureBeat:

Sentiment analysis, ESG insights from over 5 million companies

The SESAMm technology has found use by data and business teams including ESG (environmental, social and governance) specialists, procurement teams and deal teams. The company provides a range of use cases, including ESG controversy detection; detection of positive-impact events; competitive intelligence; and quantitative investment, with NLP signals generated on equities and macroeconomic factors.

Forté, CEO and cofounder of SESAMm, said: “Raising a significant amount during challenging market conditions highlights the relevance of SESAMm’s focus on two key trends: AI and sustainability. In turn, these tools enable organizations to make better decisions and fill the data gaps, particularly in ESG, in both public and private companies.”

Traditional ESG scores have come under scrutiny because of their lag in updates, issues with methodology and lack of transparency. SESAMm aims to solve these problems by providing up-to-date and unbiased information on companies. Its extensive coverage of more than five million private and public companies includes small and mid-cap firms in Europe and emerging markets, and private companies worldwide.

The company’s off-the-shelf ESG and reputational risk metrics provide investors and corporations with data where there are data gaps. Furthermore, SESAMm helps companies detect and protect against new risks in an increasingly complex macro environment through AI-powered real-time monitoring of inflation mentions across all geographies on the web.

NLP for private equity, finance and more

SESAMm counts as customers seven of the top 10 private equity firms worldwide, as well as other corporations of various sizes. The company’s plans focus on developing new products, with an emphasis on sustainability frameworks, taxonomies, and standardized reputational scores.

“SESAMm wants to become the premier NLP platform for financial firms and corporations looking to enhance their decision-making process by leveraging insights from the web. Our ultimate goal is to be an enabler for companies looking to maximize returns and mitigate risks,” Forté told VentureBeat. “We aim to make web data a real source of business insights using advanced technology. With such a keen focus on sustainability, we can only fulfill our goal of helping firms of all types to achieve their goals if SESAMm itself is truly a sustainable, profitable and responsible company.”

Other participating companies in SESAMm funding include asset manager Unigestion, Raiffeisen Bank International’s (RBI) venture capital entity Elevator Ventures, AFG Partners, CEGEE Capital, and historical backers including Carlyle (CG) and New Alpha Asset Management. Each participated in the previous series B1 round.

This latest round brings the total funding raised to €50 million ($53 million). This funding will enable SESAMm to further expand into U.S. and Asian markets; support development of AI-powered ESG and sentiment analytics; and hire key talent across sustainability, technology, sales and marketing.

Excerpts were first published on VentureBeat.

ESG frameworks and regulations have developed due to rising awareness of sustainability and supply chain risks. They aim to enhance transparency, accountability, and ethics, encouraging environmental preservation, social improvement, and better governance. While fostering innovation and financial benefits, aligning with sustainable development goals, these measures might increase costs for businesses, especially smaller ones. Differences across regions and a focus on compliance could inhibit real change, promoting a superficial 'tick-box' approach rather than significant enhancements.

This article takes an in-depth view of some of the most relevant recent regulations and analyzes how effective they seem to be.

Unraveling Supply Chain Regulations: From Past to Present

We traced the evolution of supply chain regulations from non-binding guidelines to binding laws, examining their impact on corporate sustainability. Along the way, we explored the challenges businesses face as they strive to comply with these constantly evolving standards.

Note: The list of regulations and frameworks mentioned is a high-level list of the most mentioned acts.

Global and Non-binding

When analyzing global and non-binding regulations, although they provide crucial frameworks for promoting corporate accountability by offering guidelines for responsible business conduct, they also have limitations. For instance, they lack legal enforceability due to their non-binding nature, potentially hindering compliance. Given the broad scope of the guidelines, implementation challenges arise, particularly in regions with weak governance.

Here are a few examples of recent sustainability regulations:

By Region and Binding

Binding legislation requires companies to meet specific standards in sustainability, environmental protection, and social responsibility. Non-compliance risks legal penalties and reputational damage. However, weak enforcement, insufficient penalties, and legal ambiguities often lead to criticism.
Additionally, logistical and resource constraints, especially across borders, limit the effectiveness of regulatory bodies in monitoring and enforcing compliance. Furthermore, the penalties imposed are often disproportionately low. Moreover, these bodies depend on companies’ self-reporting without independent verification, leading to underreporting.

By Country/State and Binding

State or country legislation on supply chains encounters several challenges. These include jurisdictional limitations, enforcement difficulties due to resource constraints, and compliance burdens, especially for smaller businesses. Additionally, fragmented regulations across states or countries can complicate compliance for companies operating nationally. This underscores the importance of coordinated efforts between states and the federal government to address supply chain issues effectively.
In addition, regulatory bodies contend with logistical and resource limitations, mainly when operating across borders, which can hinder their effectiveness in monitoring and enforcing compliance.

Unveiling Vulnerabilities Sector Screening for Supply Chain Controversies

In this section, we explore the evolving landscape of supply chain regulatory frameworks and ESG risks in supply chain management. We also dive into how future regulations will affect global trade, corporate responsibility, and sustainability efforts.

Supply Chain Controversies Over Time

We analyzed supply chain-related controversies from 2019 onwards and found a consistent increase each year, peaking in 2023. Concurrently, mentions of various frameworks, laws, and legislations [mentioned in Part I] related to these issues have also risen.
Our analysis reveals a strong and positive correlation between the two trends (r=0.99), indicating a significant relationship. While the apparent increase in supply chain issues, breaches, and controversies may be concerning, it's largely caused by implementing more frameworks that increase visibility and accountability. Even without binding regulations, companies' reputations are affected. Thus, the proliferation of laws and frameworks contributes to the heightened online attention to these breaches.

Supply Chain Controversies: An ESG Analysis

For this analysis, we primarily focused on environmental and social issues within the supply chain, as legislation often targets these areas due to their significant external impacts. Issues like environmental damage and labor violations are most likely to occur in the supply chain and can profoundly affect communities and ecosystems. Governance issues, on the other hand, are more internal and directly pertain to a company's operations and management practices.
Therefore, we analyzed a sample of 31,011 entities across industries with frequent mentions of ESG-related supply chain risks, focusing on social and environmental risks.

Specialized Retail has the highest incidence of social and environmental controversies, followed by Technology Software and Automobile & Components, respectively.
As shown in the graph above, many of the issues highlighted in the Social ESG supply chain pillar are driven by human and labor rights breaches, which significantly contribute to the ESG risks mentioned.

Social Risks in the Supply Chain

In specialized retail, many brands face scrutiny for alleged forced labor; some examples include Amazon, Hugo Boss, Diesel, and Costco.
Additionally, Amazon garnered widespread attention when the company settled a $1.9 million human rights abuse claim. Consumer groups sued Starbucks over deceptive ethical sourcing claims linked to human rights issues.
Walmart and Centric were also investigated for human rights violations. Moreover, reports tie Amazon and IKEA suppliers to forced labor. These controversies dominate ESG supply chain discussions in retail.

The automotive industry ranks second as notable companies like Tesla face criticism, with allegations ranging from opening showrooms in China linked to genocide allegations leading to backlash and investigations led by the US Senate. Tesla's involvement with child labor and its battery material supplier's recurrent human rights abuses further add to the scrutiny.
Furthermore, we detect multiple mentions regarding Volkswagen's supplier breach that could impact up to 3.3 million customers. Moreover, slave labor accusations resurface for Volkswagen in Brazil, while companies like Toyota Motor, General Motors, Tesla, and Volkswagen suppliers are accused of exploitative labor practices in Southeast Asian factories.

Regarding the other industries, we also see that technology hardware displays a significant proportion of mentions stemming from mentions of forced labor for Lenovo, Cisco, and Intel, and numerous controversies regarding Apple, among many other allegations.

Similarly, Companies from the food and beverage manufacturers industry were also linked with human rights violations and infringements on labor rights, with companies like Tyson Foods, McDonald's, Hershey,  Pepsi, and Nestle having multiple supplier issues connected with child labor, discrimination, and exploitative work. While Technology Software companies mentions were primarily related to contractors and content moderators’ health & safety issues and labor rights infringements from companies like Meta, Microsoft, and Google.

Environmental Risks in the Supply Chain

Environmental risks, though relatively fewer in proportion compared to social risks across sectors' supply chains are notably prevalent in specific sectors, notably in oil and gas, where incidents such as oil-well blasts are due to the lack of safety practices, improper disposal, harmful emissions from gas flaring, unremedied oil spills disproportionately impact communities and contractor negligence. This negligence has resulted in substantial environmental harm, endangering both communities and workers and, in some cases, leading to fatalities.

In specialized retail, brands’ suppliers are linked to deforestation, illegal extraction of minerals, animal cruelty, and illegal waste disposal. Similarly, controversies arise from controversial mining, breaches of clean air acts by suppliers, deforestation, and questionable cobalt sourcing in the auto and components sector. Environmental concerns also impact the food and beverage supply chain, with prevalent issues like deforestation, animal abuse, and unethical sourcing.

In sum, the evolving supply chain regulations reflect a global commitment to sustainability and ethical business practices. Navigating these regulations presents challenges and opportunities for businesses to lead in corporate responsibility and advance principles of environmental stewardship and social equity. Embracing these regulations as a compass rather than a constraint can help chart a course toward a sustainable future.

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The healthcare sector is experiencing a notable surge in activist investor involvement, with major companies facing mounting pressure to improve performance, reshape boards, and enhance governance practices. This trend marks a significant shift in how healthcare organizations are being pushed to adapt to evolving market demands and investor expectations.

Assessment Framework

The bank's new methodology centers on a dual evaluation approach. First, it examines management quality, analyzing how companies handle emissions and assess transition risks. Second, it evaluates carbon performance, scrutinizing emissions reduction targets and their alignment with Paris Agreement goals. This comprehensive framework ensures a thorough assessment of companies' climate commitments and actions.

Recent High-Profile Campaigns

The past year has seen several prominent activist campaigns that highlight this growing trend. In August 2025, medical device giant Medtronic appointed two new independent directors to its board after Elliott Investment Management emerged as one of the company's largest shareholders, signaling the activist firm's influence on corporate governance.

Life sciences company Avantor has faced sustained pressure from Engine Capital, which acquired a 3% stake in the firm. The activist investor has urged Avantor to either implement significant cost reductions and management changes or explore strategic alternatives, including a potential sale of the company.

Elliott Investment Management has been particularly active in the healthcare space. Beyond its Medtronic involvement, the firm reached an agreement with Charles River Laboratories, resulting in board changes and the launch of a comprehensive strategic review of the research services company's operations.

The trend extends to healthcare distribution as well. In January 2025, private equity giant KKR built a substantial stake in Henry Schein, the medical and dental supplies distributor, and successfully secured board representation through a negotiated agreement.

Expanding Activist Agenda

These campaigns reflect a broader evolution in activist investment strategies within healthcare. While traditional performance metrics remain important, modern campaigns increasingly emphasize governance reforms, board independence, and strategic portfolio optimization. Engine Capital's approach at Avantor exemplifies this trend, combining operational efficiency demands with strategic restructuring recommendations.

The scope of activist involvement spans multiple healthcare subsectors, from medical devices and life sciences to distribution and research services, suggesting that no segment is immune from this wave of investor activism.

Industry Response and Implications

Healthcare companies are responding proactively to this heightened activist presence. Many firms are implementing board refreshment initiatives, enhancing stakeholder engagement programs, and strengthening governance practices before facing direct activist pressure.

For the broader healthcare sector, this trend signals a shift toward more rigorous oversight of operational performance and strategic decision-making. Companies that historically operated with less external pressure are now finding themselves under closer scrutiny from sophisticated investors with detailed operational expertise.

ESG Integration and Value Creation

For investors, this wave of activism signals potential opportunities in the healthcare sector. The focus on operational improvements and governance changes could drive value creation, while increased attention to ESG factors may help companies better manage risks and opportunities in an evolving healthcare landscape.

ESG considerations have become increasingly central to activist campaigns across all sectors. ESG-focused demands accounted for 32% of all activist campaigns in 2024, up from 18% in 2020, reflecting a paradigm shift in stakeholder expectations. In healthcare specifically, companies that treat ESG as a leadership opportunity create significantly more value than those treating it as mere compliance, with pharmaceutical companies alone showing billions in additional value creation through proactive ESG leadership.

Looking Forward

As activist involvement in healthcare continues to grow, companies across the sector will likely face ongoing pressure to demonstrate both operational excellence and strategic clarity. The recent success of activists in securing board representation and strategic reviews suggests that this trend will persist, potentially reshaping how healthcare companies approach governance and strategic planning.

The healthcare sector appears to be entering a new era where active ownership plays an increasingly central role in corporate strategy and governance, with implications that will likely extend well beyond the companies currently facing activist campaigns.

SESAMm’s AI Technology Reveals ESG Insights

Discover unparalleled insights into ESG controversies, risks, and opportunities across industries. Learn more about how SESAMm can help you analyze millions of private and public companies using AI-powered text analysis tools.