The effects of climate change are becoming more and more evident with rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and more frequent and intense extreme weather events. The urgent need to prevent climate change has prompted the development of several technologies and strategies. One of these options is blockchain technology, which has the potential to be very effective in the fight against climate change.
Paris-based Carbonable, which helps companies to invest in carbon capture on the blockchain, has raised $1.2M seed round led by Ethereal Ventures, created by Joseph Lubin, Co-Founder of Ethereum, and with La Poste Ventures, operated by XAnge, focused on impact investing. The company has raised €1.65 M till date.
The pre-seed round was also backed by Coline Debayle, Co-Founder of Time For the Planet, and Abdelhamid Bakhta, one of the tech figures in the Ethereum ecosystem. This fundraising was also supported by well-known investors such as Sylvain Theveniaud, Managing Director of Allianz Accelerator.
The funding will be utilised to expand the team and research and development efforts, as well as to handle more international biodiversity initiatives and increase engagement with industry leaders.
Guillaume Leti, Co-Founder, Carbonable, said, “Today, when environmental leadership represents both a need and an opportunity, climate contributions must be part of every corporate strategy. Carbonable brings an actionable solution to empower businesses to execute their climate contributions approach in the most effective way. We are the only player that overcomes the three main challenges of funding, operations and communications.”
Ramzi Laieb, Co-Founder, Carbonable, added, “To reach net zero globally, major corporations need to first reduce their carbon footprint and then support climate contributions. Carbonable ensures the best execution for investors and offsetters to contribute to carbon neutrality in the right way – this is key to creating a sustainable future.”
Carbonable uses Web3 technology to handle its climate contribution plan, which includes everything from cost savings to risk diversification, portfolio management, and project monitoring. Further, the French startup also invests in nature-based removal certification initiatives with an emphasis on biodiversity, local community effect, and carbon absorption, and it targets both corporations and individuals. With real-time web impact reporting and blockchain for traceability and transparency as a safeguard against greenwashing, the toolset enables you to govern your carbon capture supply. Carbonable, which was founded in November 2021, is now operating in South America, Asia, and Africa through biodiversity programmes and has earned $1.2M in seed funding from Ethereal Ventures and La Poste Ventures.
The founding story
It has two founders– Guillaume Leti and Ramzi Laieb. While Guillaume Leti comes with more than 10 years of experience in leading tech products & teams for global companies (80K daily users), bridging Marketing, Business, Engineering, and UX, 4 years of experience in the impact world (helped raise $M for charities)
Ramzi Laieb holds more than 10 years of experience, global expertise in Supply Chain, Operational Management, and Governance. (warehousing, IT gov, large scale transformation). The founders met when they were studying engineering together back in 2007. The company has 10 team members.
The idea of coming up with this startup germinated when the founders saw an opportunity to use blockchain technology to help in climate change.
The founders told TFN that they have then been working with climate experts, field operators (foresters and international environmental organisations), carbon market actors (companies, & carbon credit certifiers), experts in web3.0 and decentralised finance to better understand the variables of the equation, and find the keys.
This led both the founders to the Voluntary Carbon Market: A booming market that is undergoing a lot of criticism. Though offering huge potential for sequestering carbon, it suffers from major flaws, including an upcoming carbon credits supply crunch, lack of trust, and a high risk of greenwashing. This is precisely what the founders wanted to address and the company’s mission is to answer the most pressing needs of the Voluntary Carbon Market.
By leveraging blockchain technologies, the company brings funding accessibility, transparency, and traceability. Carbonable is setting up the standard of high-quality carbon credits generation, and is taking corporate carbon offsetting to a new standard of transparency, traceability, and operational efficiency.
The company claims to have found a niche of their own. It has its first dedicated tool to climate contributions, overcoming the three main challenges of funding, operations and communications. Further, they’re using agile methodology and continuous improvement to build the ultimate tool for carbon contributions investment, management and communication.
