Pathways raises $6M to automate manufacturers’ environmental reporting

Pathways, a New York-based AI platform for manufacturers, has raised $6 million in seed funding to automate the grim work behind environmental product documentation. Sorenson Capital led the round, with Pi Labs, Zacua Ventures, Blue Lion, Positive Ventures, Great Wave, Titan Ventures and Heidelberg Materials also taking part.

The company says the new money brings its total funding since launching in 2023 to $10 million. That matters because Pathways is not trying to sell another generic AI layer. It is aimed at a very specific bottleneck: turning operational data from factories into Environmental Product Declarations, the independently verified documents that buyers increasingly want before they’ll even consider a material.

That pressure is rising fast. Cement and concrete account for roughly 8% of global CO2 emissions, and about 75% of the urban infrastructure that will exist by mid-century still hasn’t been built. At the same time, state Buy Clean laws, the EU’s Construction Products Regulation, carbon border tariffs and even hyperscalers building AI data centres are pushing manufacturers to show their working.

Pathways starts by connecting to the systems manufacturers already use, then uses AI agents to read the rest: utility bills, supplier invoices, spreadsheets and scanned PDFs. The pitch is simple enough. Instead of paying a consultant $20,000 or more per product and waiting six to 12 months, companies can use the platform to collect and structure the data for the life cycle assessments that sit underneath EPDs. It also helps them spot which materials and processes are driving emissions, benchmark performance and model alternatives.

The company says its largest contract is with Heidelberg Materials, worth more than $1 million and covering sites across North America, Europe and Australia. Heidelberg, which runs nearly 3,000 production sites in more than 50 countries, is using Pathways internally, as is Titan in North America. Pathways is also live at Crete Solutions, where it brought five plants and a new Stonemont integration online in nine days. The next step is broader: Digital Product Passports, construction product rules and PCFs are all on the list.