as concerns rise over forest carbon offsets, pachama’s verified offset marketplace gets $15 million
The Growing Importance of Forest Carbon Offsets
The restoration and preservation of global forests has consistently been recognized as a readily achievable, cost-effective strategy for diminishing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
For businesses seeking an initial step towards decarbonization or offsetting their industrial impact, this approach has proven particularly popular. However, recent investigative journalism by Bloomberg has raised concerns regarding the effectiveness, validity, and dependability of numerous forest offset programs.
Pachama: A New Approach to Carbon Credit Verification
Amidst this evolving landscape, investors are increasingly focusing on Pachama, a company developing a marketplace for forest carbon credits. Pachama distinguishes itself through enhanced transparency and verification, leveraging satellite imagery and machine learning technologies.
The company recently secured $15 million in new funding, as announced by co-founder and CEO Diego Saez Gil. These resources will be allocated to ongoing product development and the expansion of the company’s marketplace platform.
Impressive Backers and Early Success
Despite being launched just one year ago, Pachama has already attracted significant attention from prominent figures and organizations. Jeff Bezos, former CEO of Amazon, highlighted the company in his final letter to shareholders.
Furthermore, Mercado Libre, Latin America’s largest e-commerce platform, has engaged Pachama to manage an $8 million offset initiative, demonstrating a broader commitment to sustainability.
Investment Details and Key Players
Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund participated in the latest funding round, which was spearheaded by Bill Gates’ investment firm, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Additional investors include:
- Lowercarbon Capital
- Saltwater (led by former Uber executive Ryan Graves)
- MCJ Collective
- OATV (Tim O’Reilly’s venture)
- Ram Fhiram
- Joe Gebbia
- Marcos Galperin
- NBA All-star Manu Ginobili
- James Beshara
- Fabrice Grinda
- Sahil Lavignia
- Tomi Pierucci
This represents a partial list of the company’s extensive investor network.
Attracting Top Talent
Pachama’s success in attracting skilled professionals from leading companies – including Google, Facebook, SpaceX, Tesla, OpenAI, Microsoft, Impossible Foods, and Orbital Insights – is attributed to its compelling climate mission within the established forest offset market, according to Saez Gil.
“Restoring natural ecosystems represents a crucial solution to climate change. Forests, oceans, and other ecosystems sequester substantial amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere, while simultaneously providing vital habitats for biodiversity and supporting livelihoods globally. We are developing the technological infrastructure necessary to direct funding towards the restoration and conservation of these ecosystems with integrity, transparency, and efficiency,” Saez Gil stated. “We are honored and enthusiastic to receive support from such a distinguished group of investors who share our vision and are committed to our long-term growth.”
Expanding Market Reach
Demand for access to Pachama’s offset marketplace is growing beyond Latin America. Microsoft, Shopify, and SoftBank are currently among the company’s paying customers.
This widespread interest has contributed to the backing of investors such as Y Combinator, Social Capital, Tobi Lutke, Serena Williams, Aglaé Ventures (LVMH’s tech investment arm), Paul Graham, AirAngels, Global Founders, ThirdKind Ventures, Sweet Capital, Xplorer Capital, Scott Belsky, Tim Schumacher, Gustaf Alstromer, Facundo Garreton, and Terrence Rohan, resulting in nearly $24 million in funding since the company’s 2020 inception.
Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ Perspective
“Pachama is pioneering the unlocking of nature’s full potential for CO2 removal from the atmosphere,” commented Carmichael Roberts from BEV. “Their technology-driven approach will significantly amplify impact by utilizing machine learning models for forest analysis to validate, monitor, and measure carbon neutrality initiatives. We are impressed by the team’s rapid progress and anticipate collaborating with them to scale their unique solution globally.”
*Update: An Amazon spokesperson provided information regarding the company’s investments in decarbonizing its operations.
Jonathan Shieber
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