Brisbane ESG software startup plants $450,000 Seed raise

The round for Klean Technologies, trading as ESGAgent.ai, was led by Japanese VC DNX Ventures and takes the total raised, including grants, to $1.7 million, since a pre-Seed round in 2024.

The new funds will support product development and customer growth as the Australian government ramps up mandatory compliance obligations across climate disclosure, emissions reporting, workplace safety, modern slavery, biodiversity and broader ESG governance requirements.

ESGAgent.ai automates compliance activities that traditionally required expensive consultants and reduces reporting timelines from months to hours and replacing manual workflows with AI-driven processes on a single platform.

Founder Shan Vahora said the startup has tier one miners, food manufacturers and global engineering consultants among its client base.

“We built ESGAgent.ai because compliance is becoming increasingly complex, costly and resource-intensive for Australian industry,” he said.

“With growing regulatory expectations across climate, safety and governance, many organisations still rely on old-school spreadsheets, consultants and fragmented systems. We have developed an AI-native platform that helps businesses automate that burden and turn compliance into a strategic advantage rather than an administrative exercise.”

Beyond individual reporting frameworks Vahora wants to create an end-to-end compliance platform for Australia’s highest-regulated industries.

ESGAgent.ai has also brought on former Ashurst Risk Advisory senior director Mike Duggan as executive general manager; and Arcadis chief commercial officer Greg Steele as an investor and director.

“With the backing from DNX Ventures and Greg and Mike, it validates why we built the company in the first place,” Vahora said.

“We now have the opportunity to accelerate the business and support more organisations as they navigate a rapidly changing regulatory environment.”

DNX Ventures principal Yurika Imuta said their second Australian investment reflects their confidence in the strength of local innovation.

“ESGAgent.ai has demonstrated strong early customer traction and built a platform that addresses the compliance challenges in a practical and scalable way,” he said.

“We are excited in the company’s broader opportunity to become the default single system of record for compliance across some of Australia’s most highly regulated industries.”