Answer investor ESG questions before they hold up your round

What do investors ask startups about ESG?

At seed, most investors simply want to know you have thought about it. By Series A, some send a short ESG due diligence questionnaire alongside the legal and financial checks, and some ask you to report a set of measures every year after they invest. Frameworks such as ESG_VC, whose 2025 report describes 44 metrics used from seed to growth stage, and the questionnaires published by the BVCA and Invest Europe give a good sense of what comes up.

The questions are rarely exotic. Expect things like:

• Do you know your carbon footprint, and how was it calculated?
• Do you have an environmental policy and a code of conduct?
• Who on the team is responsible for ESG?
• What do you offer staff on pay, benefits, training and wellbeing?
• How do you handle customer data under UK GDPR?
• Do you monitor diversity in the team?

A five-person startup is not expected to have perfect answers. Investors are looking for awareness, honesty and a sensible plan. A blank page is what raises eyebrows. Our guide to the ESG due diligence questionnaire goes through the common questions one by one.

What goes into an investor-ready ESG report?

The ESG Now report is built to slot straight into a data room. It opens with an “at a glance” summary, then covers your carbon footprint, performance by source, people and community, how the business is run, and your commitments and next steps. The appendices set out the methodology, every calculation (activity multiplied by emission factor) and the official UK government factors used, so an analyst can follow the working in minutes.

For a typical startup in a co-working space, the footprint is small. It is mostly your share of the building’s energy, plus any flights and train journeys. You will not need utility bills: the questionnaire estimates your share from the number of desks and the days you use them, and the report labels that figure as an estimate. Homeworking and commuting are estimated from a few simple questions and labelled as estimates. You can also add an optional spend-based estimate of software, cloud and other purchases.

How do you talk about ESG without greenwashing?

The quickest way to lose an investor’s trust is to overclaim. “Carbon neutral” on a pitch deck with no footprint behind it invites questions you cannot answer. A measured baseline, a couple of honest data gaps and a clear list of next steps reads far better. It shows you know your numbers, which is exactly what diligence is testing.

Use the report to back up specific statements. For example: “Our footprint last year was around 4 tCO2e, mostly from flights to customer sites, and we are moving two regular trips to rail.” An investor can believe that sentence and check it against your appendix. Our guide to ESG in your pitch deck has more examples, and the glossary entry on greenwashing explains the traps to avoid.

How much time will it take your team?

A small team in a co-working space or serviced office usually finishes in 15 to 20 minutes. Have your headcount, desk numbers, any staff benefits and a rough idea of last year’s work travel to hand. The people questions on training, benefits and wellbeing are the part investors read most closely, so they are worth a few extra minutes.

Your answers save as you go, so one founder can start and pick it up later. Your first report is free, with no card details needed. When you are ready, start your report and have it in the data room before the next investor call.