ESG Risk Firm Window Acquires Fintech Drift

Window, a company providing environmental, social and governance (ESG) data and risk assessment tools, has acquired Fintech Drift, a publisher that offers insights into how technology affects financial markets.

Window announced the deal in a news release Tuesday (Jan. 18), saying it allows the company to “provide bleeding-edge content on how the acceleration of machine learning, the adoption of financial technology and the transition to stakeholder capitalism are reshaping the public markets and alternative assets landscapes.”

The company notes that ESG assets under management are expected to surpass $50 trillion worldwide by 2025, while those assets in the U.S. have increased by more than 40% in the last two years.

“As investors increasingly insist on accountability regarding the social impact of the funds and companies they invest in, institutions, fund managers, and portfolio companies will require sophisticated data, technology, decision-making, and reporting tools to communicate with stakeholders,” Window said.

Fintech Drift publisher Dominick DeJoy called the deal a major step forward for the publication, which would be “enriched by the ESG data capabilities of Window.”

Edward Sturm, a spokesman for Window, said the acquisition gives the company access to an audience of highly-engaged, tech-savvy finance professionals, and will improve Window’s reporting and communication capabilities.

The deal closed Jan. 10, with Fintech Drift becoming fully owned by Window, serving as its content and marketing services organization, and DeJoy becoming Window’s director of marketing. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Read more: Bitcoin’s New Headwind: ESG Investors Double Down on Its ‘Staggering’ Pollution

Earlier this month, PYMNTS reported that a growing number of investors and investment firms with ESG concerns have begin targeting the pollution caused by the mining of bitcoin and ethereum, the two biggest crypto blockchains.

Last year, Elon Musk — who had initially championed bitcoin — announced his Tesla would no longer accept it as payment, citing environmental concerns.

“We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel,” Musk said. “Cryptocurrency is a good idea … but this cannot come at great cost to the environment.”