Sourceful, an Index Ventures-backed supply chain transparency startup, has fast-fuelled with a $20 million Series A around half a year after it announced a $12.2 million seed round. The latest raise is once again led by Index, with Coatue and Eka Ventures also participating.

The 2020-founded startup works with brands to shrink the environmental damage associated with their product sourcing choices in areas like packing, via offering a marketplace of vetted suppliers. The startup also takes on logistics, handling the buying and shipping piece for brands (including a little warehousing if they need it) -- monetizing by taking a commission on the overall price.

Sourceful has chosen to focus on packaging for its initial push to help brands reduce their supply chain emissions on account of the ubiquity of the challenge. (Decisions around packaging are also likely to require less lengthy sign-off for brands than environmentally minded design revisions of actual products.)

The startup bakes a packaging design interface into its platform so brands can experiment with design tweaks and see in real time how those choices impact the associated carbon footprint, helping them to make reductions in emissions.

Since we last spoke, it's gained ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification for the lifecycle assessment (LCA) methodology it applies so customers get an understanding of the carbon footprint of their product’s supply chain -- a development its investors believe will help support faster global scaling.

Commenting in a statement, Danny Rimer, partner at lead investor Index Ventures, said: “Supply chains represent one of the world’s biggest sustainability roadblocks but they also contain one of our biggest opportunities to reduce global emissions.

“Sourceful is spearheading the effort to reduce the carbon footprint of supply chains, with the expertise, data and AI to give businesses the choices and the transparency they never had. Following Sourceful’s recent ISO verification, we believe the brand can go truly global and work with the world’s biggest businesses, to help build tomorrow’s sustainable world economy.”