What Estainium Association does

ESTAINIUM Association (legally ESTAINIUM e.V.) is a German nonprofit eingetragener Verein founded on April 19, 2022 and headquartered in Amberg, Germany. The association operates a pre-competitive, member-based ecosystem that brings together multinational corporations, SMEs, startups, and universities to advance climate-positive, circular value chains. Its membership base has grown from 16 founding organizations (including Siemens, Merck, Weidmüller, FAU, Fraunhofer IIS, and NTT Data) to over 25 organizations by late 2025, with current members spanning ATS, Callirius, Ceezer, CircularTree, Circuly, Climate Connection, Capgemini, and others.

The association's core offering is structured around three thematic HUBs — Circular Economy, Footprint, and Value Chain — that hold monthly 60-minute online sessions, supplemented by monthly public Expert Talks webinars, twice-yearly on-site Member Meetings, and a 24/7 Knowledge Platform and Toolbox. Its technical centerpiece is the open-source Trustworthy Supply Chain Exchange (TSX), donated by Siemens in June 2024, which enables confidential, transparent exchange of certified product carbon footprint (PCF) and ESG data across supply chain stakeholders. Additional tools include Navi Norm (standards navigation), PCF Guidance (aligned with Catena-X PCF Rulebook V4.0 / Manufacturing-X PCF Guidelines V1.0), and a Rulebook for Carbon Compensation with an associated software tool for the Voluntary Carbon Market. The association has co-authored two World Economic Forum white papers on Scope 3 emissions and net-zero manufacturing.

Revenue is generated exclusively through annual turnover-based membership fees that scale with member organization size, with the first six months free for new members. Governance rests with a three-person Board (Dr.-Ing. Gunter Beitinger of Siemens as Chairperson and Managing Director, Dr. jur. Karen Möhlenkamp of MAYGREEN as Treasurer, and Rudolf Maier of Callirius as Board Member), with operational leadership across 10-15 staff managing HUB facilitation, research, accounting, and technical support. Strategic partnerships span Siemens (founding member and TSX donor), Werner-von-Siemens Centre e.V. (cooperation agreement July 2024), Catena-X and Factory-X consortium participation, and the WEF Carbon Reduction in Manufacturing Initiative, alongside a Carbon Ecosystem initiative with international partners in Mexico (Querétaro) for carbon sink integration.

Name

Estainium Association

Legal name

ESTAINIUM e.V.

Website

https://estainium.eco

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ESTAINIUM Association is a German nonprofit membership organization that operates a pre-competitive ecosystem and open-source tools for certified product carbon footprint and ESG data exchange, serving multinational corporations, SMEs, startups, and universities pursuing climate-positive value chains.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability Association Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Emissions Factors, LCA & Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) Platforms (EUABAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Supply Chain (Scope 3) Emissions & Supplier Engagement Platforms (EUABAEAE), Market Standards & Methodology Infrastructure (Standards bodies, methodologies, program rule systems) (EUABAAAH)

Keywords

• Carbon footprint exchange
• Sustainability association
• Decarbonization services
• Circular economy consulting
• Climate-positive networks

Headquarters

HQ city

Amberg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: ESTAINIUM operates as a non-profit association (e.V.) funded by membership fees. Fees scale with organization size based on annual turnover, enabling organizations of all sizes to participate. Membership fees are reinvested into future ESTAINIUM projects. The first six months are free for new members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Estainium Association is a nonprofit membership organization that helps companies decarbonize their value chains by enabling verified exchange of Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data across supply chains. Its core offering combines open-source digital tools (TSX, Navi Norm, PCF Guidance, Rulebook for Carbon Compensation) with collaborative services including thematic HUBs, Expert Talks, twice-yearly Member Meetings, a Knowledge Platform & Toolbox, and a Personal Companion Service for member support.

Product overview

ESTAINIUM Association is a membership-based collaborative ecosystem—not a single software product—organized around three thematic HUBs (Circular Economy, Footprint, and Value Chain) that meet monthly via online sessions. The association provides members with a Knowledge Platform and Toolbox containing practical resources including PCF Guidance documents, the Rulebook for Carbon Compensation with its associated software tool, and open-source TSX (Trustworthy Supply Chain Exchange) technology. Core engagement formats include monthly Expert Talks webinars, twice-yearly in-person Member Meetings, and an ongoing Personal Companion Service that facilitates matchmaking and project support. The overall offering is structured as a membership tiers model (Regular and Sponsoring) scaled by organizational turnover, with the first six months free for new members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ESTAINIUM HUBs (Value Chain, Footprint, Circular Economy) Thematic working groups that convene member organizations around specific decarbonization topics — the Value Chain HUB, the Footprint HUB, and the Circular Economy HUB — facilitated by dedicated HUB Facilitators. Intended for member companies and research partners.
• Expert Talks Online webinar series in which external experts and member practitioners present on sustainability, PCF, decarbonization, and circular-economy topics. Delivered to association members.
• Member Meetings Twice-yearly in-person gatherings that bring together association members, partners, and experts for collaboration, project updates, and networking in Germany.
• Knowledge Platform & Toolbox Online resource library and Toolbox providing members with access to guidance documents, methodologies, templates, and curated content related to PCF, decarbonization, and circular economy.
• PCF Guidance Software tool that provides members with practical guidance for calculating and reporting product carbon footprints across value chains.
• Rulebook for Carbon Compensation Whitepaper and software tool that establishes a governance framework for carbon compensation and offsetting practices among association members and partners.
• Trustworthy Supply Chain Exchange (TSX) Open-source technology infrastructure that enables verified, neutral exchange of product carbon footprint (PCF) data across supply chain partners, providing the digital backbone for the association's PCF and decarbonization services.
• Personal Companion Service Hands-on member-support service that guides organizations through onboarding, sustainability project execution, and use of the association's tools and HUBs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Around 40 members from 21 companies participated in November 2025 Member Meeting in Munich
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Werner-von-Siemens Centre for Industry and Science e.V. (WvSC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 July 2024ESTAINIUM signed a significant cooperation agreement with the Werner-von-Siemens Centre for Industry and Science e.V. (WvSC) in Berlin on July 12, 2024. This partnership enhances ESTAINIUM's ability to address global and local challenges and promote sustainable industrial transformations. WvSC contributes to projects like Factory-X.
• SiemenscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 June 2024Siemens is a founding member and key supporter of ESTAINIUM. The company donated the Trustworthy Supply Chain Exchange (TSX) to the association, enabling open-source connectivity for PCF management systems across supply chains. TSX is an innovative method for exchanging certified product-level information such as CO2 emissions and ESG properties. Siemens also co-developed the Factory-X PCF Guidance and participates in the Carbon Ecosystem initiative.
• Factory-X Project ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2024Factory-X is a collaborative project funded by the European Union (NextGenerationEU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Partners include Fraunhofer IWU, Siemens AG, and Werner-von-Siemens Centre e.V. ESTAINIUM's Lucas Fochler contributed as author to the Factory-X PCF Guidance publication.
• World Economic ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2023ESTAINIUM collaborated with the World Economic Forum on groundbreaking white papers to tackle Scope 3 emissions. Publications include 'The No-Excuse Framework to Accelerate the Path to Net-Zero Manufacturing and Value Chains' and 'The No-Excuse Opportunities to Tackle Scope 3 Emissions in Manufacturing and Value Chains'.
• Catena-XcoreTechnology or IntegrationESTAINIUM is part of the Catena-X ecosystem and contributed to the PCF Rulebook V4.0. The Factory-X project, which ESTAINIUM participates in, implements Manufacturing-X PCF Guidelines based on Catena-X standards.
• Carbon Ecosystem Initiative PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Carbon Ecosystem is developed jointly by Siemens, SEDESU Secretaría De Desarrollo Sustentable Querétaro, Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda, OpenForests, and Callirius. This initiative demonstrates a pathway towards a carbon-neutral economy by integrating carbon calculation, offsetting, and monitoring in a transparent, efficient, and scalable approach.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Watershed: Enterprise climate platform offering carbon accounting and Scope 3 supply-chain engagement tools; competes for the same corporate sustainability budget as ESTAINIUM's members but as a venture-backed SaaS incumbent.
• Sweep: Sustainability data management platform with strong Scope 3 and value-chain engagement functionality; targets the same corporate buyers that ESTAINIUM's HUB network serves.
• Normative: Carbon accounting and climate disclosure platform serving large enterprises with Scope 3 and product footprint workflows; a direct commercial alternative to ESTAINIUM's Toolbox and PCF Guidance offerings.
• Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT) - WBCSD: WBCSD-led initiative developing technical specifications (including the Pathfinder Framework and Tech Boundaries) for Scope 3 carbon data exchange; a peer standards body competing for the same policy space as ESTAINIUM.

Emerging players

• Climatiq: Emissions data infrastructure provider offering APIs for carbon footprint calculations and product-level LCA data; overlaps with ESTAINIUM's emissions factors and PCF exchange positioning.
• OpenForests: ESTAINIUM member and co-developer of the Carbon Ecosystem initiative; provides forestry and carbon project monitoring/mapping tools adjacent to ESTAINIUM's offsetting and Scope 3 work.

Direct peers

• Ceezer: ESTAINIUM member operating a B2B marketplace for high-quality carbon credits; complements ESTAINIUM's Rulebook for Carbon Compensation by providing transaction infrastructure in the same value chain.
• CircularTree: ESTAINIUM member and provider of supply-chain transparency software; a commercial peer to ESTAINIUM's TSX-enabled PCF exchange and Circular Economy HUB value proposition.
• Catena-X Automotive Network: The European automotive consortium operating the data ecosystem (including Catena-X PCF Rulebook V4.0) for which ESTAINIUM provides tooling and guidance; both organizations are stewarding PCF exchange standards across value chains.
• Manufacturing-X: The German/EU initiative to extend Catena-X-style data ecosystems into manufacturing; ESTAINIUM participates via Factory-X PCF Guidance and contributes to Manufacturing-X PCF Guidelines V1.0.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/estainium-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Estainium Association