Growth equity firm General Atlantic announced today the appointment of IHS Markit founder and former CEO Lance Uggla as Chief Executive Officer of its climate-focused venture BeyondNetZero.

Uggla founded Markit in 2003, growing the company into a global financial information and services company, and merging with IHS in 2016. By 2021 IHS Markit reached nearly $5 billion revenues and employed 15,000 people. In 2020, the company announced an agreement to be acquired by S&P Global at an enterprise value of $44 billion.

Lord John Browne of Madingley, Co-Founder and Chairman of BeyondNetZero, and Senior Advisor to General Atlantic, said:

“It is a pleasure to welcome Lance to BeyondNetZero. Having built one of the world’s most successful information companies, Lance is an excellent entrepreneur and exemplifies the kind of founder we’re looking to back. His network and experience, particularly in identifying high-growth businesses and applying big data tools to the measurement and management of ESG considerations, will be critical as we build out BeyondNetZero’s strategy and aim to make an important contribution to addressing global climate change.”

Launched in 2021, BeyondNetZero (BnZ) seeks to identify and support high growth businesses that ultimately have the potential to combat climate change at scale. The venture focuses on four central themes, including decarbonization of supply chains, industrial processes and products; energy efficiency solutions; resource conservation, and; emissions management, measurement, storage and removal. To date, BnZ has invested over $400 million in three companies, including vertical farming company 80 Acres Farms, tech-enabled recycling platform RoadRunner, and waste reduction and supply chain efficiency software provider o9 Solutions.

Bill Ford, Chairman and CEO of General Atlantic, said:

“With experts now estimating that it will require $3.5 trillion in annual investment across all sectors for us to reach net zero targets, Lance and General Atlantic’s BeyondNetZero team have a critical role to play in backing promising technologies, scaling high-quality companies that are making a climate impact now, and helping to fuel innovation and entrepreneurship focused on net zero solutions.”

Uggla added:

“I’m delighted to join BeyondNetZero and support entrepreneurs around the world who are harnessing the power of technology to address the global climate crisis. Growth investors can play a pivotal role in advancing the tools and business models that will make the net zero transition possible, and I’m energized by the opportunity to work with Lord John Browne, our partners at General Atlantic and an incredible team of seasoned executives and climate experts who share that vision. As someone who built an intelligence platform that helps business make more informed decisions, including on environmental and sustainability matters, I’ve seen first-hand how lasting progress can be accelerated when the right resources are in place. In the months and years ahead, I look forward to building on BeyondNetZero’s momentum as we continue to identify entrepreneurs who are on the front lines of innovation in this area and partner with them to scale their solutions.”