Aclima

A hardware + software platform for high-resolution mapping and analysis of air pollution and greenhouse gases.

Website: https://aclima.earth

Cover Block

Attribute Value
Name Aclima
Tagline A hardware + software platform for high-resolution mapping and analysis of air pollution and greenhouse gases.
Headquarters San Francisco, United States
Founded 2007
Stage Growth / Late Stage
Business Model Hardware + Software
Industry Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology Hardware
Geography North America
Growth Profile Venture Scale
Founding Team Co-Founders (3+)
Funding Label $50M+ (total disclosed ~$74,800,000)

Links

Aclima has built a hardware and software platform to map air pollution and greenhouse gases at a block-by-block resolution, a capability that positions it for the growing demand for hyperlocal environmental data from governments and corporations. Founded in 2007 as a public benefit corporation, the company combines roving and stationary sensor networks with enterprise analytics software, aiming to provide a more granular and actionable view of emissions than traditional monitoring stations can offer [Climatebase, retrieved 2024] [Aclima, retrieved 2024]. Its founding team includes CEO Davida Herzl, alongside environmental philanthropist Wendy Schmidt and technical inventors central to the sensor technology [UC Berkeley, retrieved 2024]. The company has raised a total of $74.8 million in disclosed capital, with a $13 million general corporate purpose round closed in September 2024 [PitchBook, retrieved 2024]. Key validation comes from a long-running technical collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a notable partnership where its sensors were deployed on Google Street View cars [EPA, Jun 2015] [Aclima, retrieved 2024].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core company facts and funding totals confirmed by multiple independent sources (PitchBook, Crunchbase, UC Berkeley).

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis Classification
Stage Growth / Late Stage
Business Model Hardware + Software
Industry / Vertical Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology Type Hardware
Geography North America
Growth Profile Venture Scale
Founding Team Co-Founders (3+)
Funding $50M+ (total disclosed ~$74.8M)

Inside the Company

Aclima, Inc. was founded in 2007 and operates as a San Francisco-based Public Benefit Corporation [Climatebase, retrieved 2024]. The company's vision centers on moving beyond sparse, stationary air monitoring stations by deploying mobile sensor networks to create hyperlocal maps of pollution, validated through early collaborations with research institutions and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [EPA, June 2015].

Key technical milestones include a 2015 partnership with the EPA to test mobile sensing platforms and a multi-year collaboration with Google, where Aclima sensors were integrated into Google Street View cars to map air pollution in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Hamburg [Aclima, retrieved 2024] [Google Earth Outreach, retrieved 2026].

Financing milestones reflect a steady, venture-scale build. Aclima closed a $40 million Series B round in November 2020 [Crunchbase, retrieved 2026]. In September 2024, the company completed a $13 million General Corporate Purpose financing, bringing its total disclosed capital raised to approximately $74.8 million [PitchBook, retrieved 2024]. The company reports having employees across four continents [LeadIQ, retrieved 2026].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Founding date, legal status, and key milestones confirmed by company sources, EPA documentation, and multiple financial databases.

Under the Hood

Aclima’s product is a hardware and software platform designed to map air pollution and greenhouse gases at a block-by-block resolution [Climatebase, retrieved 2024]. The system combines a network of proprietary environmental sensors, deployed both on stationary poles and roving vehicles, with a cloud-based analytics engine. This combination allows the platform to measure a broad set of pollutants, including particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide, and methane, and generate standardized, hyperlocal maps [Aclima, retrieved 2024].

The enterprise software back-end processes billions of measurements to provide source-level resolution for emissions intelligence [Aclima, retrieved 2024]. Publicly described use cases include overlaying this hyperlocal air quality data with community vulnerability factors via the Community Impact and Investment Index [Aclima, retrieved 2024]. Aclima’s technology stack includes embedded systems engineering for sensor hardware, data pipeline management on Google Cloud Platform, and geospatial analytics software [Google Cloud, retrieved 2024].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core product claims are confirmed by company sources and third-party profiles; technical stack details are partially inferred from partnerships and hiring needs.

Market Research

The market for hyperlocal environmental intelligence is being reshaped by regulatory pressure, corporate ESG mandates, and a growing public health focus on air pollution.

The global air quality monitoring market was valued at approximately $4.9 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $8.5 billion by 2032 [Allied Market Research, 2023]. The climate tech market saw global venture capital investment of over $70 billion in 2022 [PwC, 2023].

Metric Value
Air Quality Monitoring Market 2022 $4.9B
Air Quality Monitoring Market 2032 $8.5B

Demand is driven by regulatory mandates, such as the EPA's tightened National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) announced in February 2024 [EPA, 2024]. Corporate net-zero pledges and Scope 3 emissions reporting requirements are pushing large enterprises to seek better measurement of their environmental footprint [SEC, 2022]. Policies like California's AB 617 mandate community-level air monitoring in disadvantaged areas, creating a customer base for block-by-block data [California Air Resources Board].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing is based on analogous, third-party industry reports. Specific TAM for Aclima's niche is not publicly confirmed.

Competition and Substitutes

Aclima operates in a specialized niche of the environmental sensing market, defined by its focus on high-resolution, multi-pollutant mapping for enterprise and government clients.

Company Positioning Stage / Funding Notable Differentiator
Aclima Hardware + software platform for hyperlocal, block-level mapping of air pollution and greenhouse gases. Growth stage; $74.8M total raised [PitchBook, retrieved 2024]. Proprietary mobile and stationary sensor network for multi-pollutant "chemical fingerprinting".
PurpleAir Maker of low-cost, real-time air quality sensors for consumer and community use. Acquired by IQAir in 2022. Dense, crowdsourced network providing hyperlocal PM2.5 data.
Clarity Movement Provider of air quality monitoring hardware and software-as-a-service for cities and businesses. Venture-backed; $12M Series A in 2021 [Crunchbase]. Focus on modular, solar-powered hardware node and SaaS platform.
QuantAQ Developer of regulatory-grade, low-cost air quality sensor systems for industrial and government clients. Venture-backed; $5.1M Seed in 2021 [Crunchbase]. Emphasis on sensor performance validation and data quality.
AirGradient Open-source, DIY air quality monitoring kits and professional systems. Bootstrapped / early-stage venture. Open hardware and software platform.

Aclima's defensible edge rests on its proprietary multi-pollutant sensor technology, established credibility with major partners, and accumulated dataset. The technical edge is evidenced by its collaboration with the U.S. EPA and its patent portfolio [EPA, June 2015], [Justia Patents Search, retrieved 2026].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Competitor profiles and funding stages confirmed via Crunchbase; Aclima's positioning and differentiation corroborated by company sources and partner case studies.

Opportunity

Aclima aims to become the default infrastructure for hyperlocal emissions accounting and air quality management. This is supported by its technical capability to map pollutants at block-level resolution, validated by its long-standing partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [EPA, June 2015] and its historical collaboration with Google Street View cars [Aclima, retrieved 2024].

Scenario What happens Catalyst
Regulatory Standard-Bearer Aclima's data and methodology become the de facto standard for local air quality compliance. A major city or state adopts Aclima's platform as the official basis for its emissions inventory.
Utility & Enterprise Climate Intelligence The platform is adopted by energy utilities and large corporations as the core system for tracking Scope 1 emissions. A national utility signs a multi-year enterprise deal to monitor methane leaks and neighborhood-level emissions.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The core opportunity thesis is supported by documented partnerships (EPA, Google) and the company's stated capabilities, but specific customer adoption metrics and detailed market size projections are not publicly available.

Sources

  1. [Climatebase, retrieved 2024] Aclima | https://climatebase.org/company/1138156/aclima
  2. [Aclima, retrieved 2024] Aclima, https://aclima.earth
  3. [UC Berkeley, retrieved 2024] Aclima, Inc. | https://ipira.berkeley.edu/aclima-inc
  4. [PitchBook, retrieved 2024] Aclima 2025 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors | PitchBook | https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/56963-26
  5. [EPA, June 2015] Advancing Air Quality Sensing Technology | https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-06/documents/fact_sheet_aclima.pdf
  6. [Crunchbase, retrieved 2026] Aclima - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/aclima
  7. [LeadIQ, retrieved 2026] LeadIQ Profile | https://leadiq.com/company/aclima-inc
  8. [Google Cloud, retrieved 2024] Google Cloud Customer Case Study: Aclima | https://cloud.google.com/customers/aclima/
  9. [Aclima, retrieved 2026] Aclima Blog | https://blog.aclima.io
  10. [Google Earth Outreach, retrieved 2026] Google Earth Outreach Project Air View | https://www.google.com/earth/outreach/success-stories/project-air-view/
  11. [Justia Patents Search, retrieved 2026] Justia Patents Search for Aclima | https://patents.justia.com/assignee/aclima-inc
  12. [Allied Market Research, 2023] Air Quality Monitoring Market | https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/air-quality-monitoring-market
  13. [PwC, 2023] State of Climate Tech 2023 | https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/esg/state-of-climate-tech-2023.html
  14. [SEC, 2022] SEC Proposed Rule: The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures | https://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/2022/33-11042.pdf
  15. [California Air Resources Board] AB 617 Community Air Protection Program | https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/community-air-protection-program

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