Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up a whopping 90% of businesses worldwide. It’s no wonder they play a key role in meeting the global targets laid out in the Paris Agreement.
The problem? A study shows that only half of SMEs calculate emissions—a statistic that becomes even more stark in places like the UK, where just one in ten have measured their carbon footprint. While 80% say that cutting back on their emissions is a “high priority,” many cite a lack of skills, knowledge, funding, and time as the reasons holding them back.
That’s where Dodo comes in. The London-based company made it their mission to help SMEs rapidly measure their emissions and get on the path to net zero. To do so, they first needed a way to enable seamless carbon accounting. They then needed a straightforward and trustworthy carbon credit procurement solution to unlock meaningful compensation.
To make this vision a reality, Dodo turned to Codat and Patch.
Multiple data points, a single API
The first step to achieving net zero for any company is to measure emissions. While Dodo knew they wanted their calculations based on data pulled from their customers’ business accounting platforms, gaining access to this data would be no easy feat.
Enter Codat, a universal API for small businesses that makes accessing consented data easy. It allowed Dodo to connect to a single API—built, maintained, and managed by Codat—rather than spend time and money trying to build individual integrations to every accounting platform their customers use.
As a result, the latter need merely connect to their accounting platform of choice; in a matter of minutes, Dodo’s highly advanced carbon calculator then provides a detailed footprint assessment based on the data accessed. It was a use case Codat hadn’t previously seen for their API.
“Dodo helped us explore a whole new possibility for our API - one that has the potential to drive a genuinely meaningful and sustainable impact for the environment", explains Phil Low, Head of Partnerships at Codat.
With the carbon accounting piece of the puzzle solved, Dodo still needed an integrated solution for the emissions compensation that would complete their customers’ journey to net zero. In came Patch.
Automatic carbon compensation
Patch connects companies of all sizes with trusted carbon credits, either through direct purchases, multi-year offtake agreements, or an API integration that automates the process. In Dodo’s case, they created portfolios of carbon credits from vetted Patch projects, then made them available for purchase through the Patch API—all via a few clicks.
Thanks to Patch, Dodo is able to offer credit purchasing on their very own platform, for a seamless experience tied directly to their carbon accounting calculations. At the same time, the portfolios allow customers to contribute to several projects at once—a capability that would not otherwise be accessible to these businesses.
“Data ingestion and carbon credit procurement are complicated, often manual, tasks,” says Csaba Szabo, CEO at Dodo, “Codat and Patch help us to simplify these processes. In turn, our customers can focus their already limited time and resources on what truly counts—their business.”
Making waves
Through this three-way partnership, Dodo is leading a unique approach that’s democratizing climate action for small businesses worldwide—and helping them reach their net-zero goals faster than ever.
“Our three companies have created a truly seamless solution that both simplifies and automates what’s otherwise a complicated, time-intensive, and resource-heavy task,” concludes Brennan Spellacy, Co-founder and CEO of Patch. “It’s inspiring to think about the massive impact this could have for small businesses and—better yet—the climate.”
