Carbon-accounting startup Planetly was shut down and all 200 staff laid off just a year after acquisition. Insiders say it’s a bad omen for 2023

• German carbon-accounting startup Planetly is being closed down by SoftBank-backed parent OneTrust.
• OneTrust, valued at $5.3 billion, acquired Planetly just under a year ago. 
• Even the hot climate-tech sector isn’t immune to the broader chill hitting tech right now.

Carbon-accounting startup Planetly is being shuttered less than a year after being acquired, a further indicator of tough times ahead in what one source familiar with the closure tipped to be “the toughest year since the Lehman Brothers” for tech.

Germany-based Planetly, founded in 2019, was acquired by SoftBank-backed risk-management platform OneTrust in December 2021. OneTrust originally touted the deal as part of a “heavy investment” into ESG, but is now shutting the firm along with its Berlin office.

Planetly’s employees were told on Friday, November 4, of the closure. The startup had a headcount of 120 when it was acquired, but social media reports suggested closer to 200 people are affected.