Carbon offsetting, a sector expected to reach $250 billion by 2050, has been plagued by trust issues due to challenges in measuring and validating carbon credits. London-based Treefera’s platform leverages AI algorithms and an extensive database that has mapped over one trillion trees worldwide. This unprecedented volume of tree data enables Treefera to address the key challenges in carbon offsetting.
Now, Treefera has raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by AlbionVC (invested in Ophelos and Gridcog). This raise comes just seven months after the company’s $2.2 million pre-seed round.
With this funding, Treefera aims to enhance its platform capabilities, expand its team throughout the world, and solidify its position as a pivotal player in the nature-based asset data landscape.
Brings transparency to carbon offsetting
Treefera was founded by Jonathan Horn, a former Managing Director at J.P. Morgan, and Caroline Grey, a former Chief Customer Officer at UiPath. The AI-enabled data management platform focuses on bringing transparency and accuracy to nature-based asset reporting such as carbon credits and supply chain sustainability.
The platform reshapes the commercial value of nature-based solutions by delivering data solutions and insights to clients dealing with the increasingly complex regulatory challenges involved in environmental and supply chain compliance.
By integrating satellite, drone, and ground truth data at a huge scale and overlaying this with AI algorithms, the Treefera platform provides continuous monitoring, assurance, and risk evaluation to its clients. This includes the ability to deliver insights and assurances around the provenance of commodities, deforestation risk, carbon credits, carbon removal, and supply chain sustainability.
What does Treefera do?
It offers a comprehensive repository of understandable data that seamlessly integrates with client systems through an API, enabling monitoring, evaluation, and reporting on nature-based solutions with clarity.
For clients – such as project developers, biochar producers, registries, financial services operating in the carbon credit market, bioenergy and biofuel companies, and supply chain businesses, the platform covers jurisdictions (countries and large regions), 500+ registered forest projects and harvest sites, bringing together an unprecedented volume of environmental and forestry data. The platform then integrates with client analytics through an API.
Unlike current industry processes and procedures, Treefera delivers insights immediately. This is achieved through a combination of deep learning models and novel AI search techniques, making it the first platform to unlock this level of granularity at scale.
Treefera has forged partnerships with industry leaders, including Anew Climate, ACCIONA, and Maple Credits.
Jonathan Horn, CEO & Co-Founder of Treefera, said: “Since our launch in September, the demand for instant, comprehensive insights across various nature-based data domains has exceeded our expectations. Treefera meets this demand by providing real-time transparency and accuracy, crucial for businesses navigating environmental challenges and supply chain complexities.”
Paul Lehair, Investment Director at AlbionVC, the lead investor in this round, commented, “We have been extremely impressed by the team’s vision and execution to date. Treefera has managed to build a market-leading product and data platform for nature-based assets in very little time, which is addressing huge transparency problems in the carbon credits space and supply chain, as well as in other verticals. The momentum has been very strong as the world and companies across sectors are wrestling with their impact on climate change. We are firm believers that the Treefera team, led by Jonathan and Caroline, have the capability to build a generational company that addresses humanity’s most significant challenge and helps companies on their transition to a net zero future.”
Josh Strauss, President of Environmental Products at Anew Climate, added: “As Anew Climate drives transformational change across the carbon market with our recent launch of the Epoch Evaluation Platform, Treefera is an invaluable strategic technology partner helping us set a new standard for forest carbon project additionality and durability. Treefera’s machine learning and remote sensing tools, combined with Anew’s vast forest carbon data set, allow for previously unachievable levels of accuracy in the assessment of biomass change and harvesting activities across the North American forest landscape. Through this achievement, the Anew-Treefera collaboration provides unprecedented project impact confidence to credit buyers.”
Laurel Perry, Co-Founder at Maple Credits, commented: “The advantages and support provided by the Treefera platform are integral to our success, and we would not be where we are without it. Its innovative features and tools have brought immense value to our business. By providing access to validated and trustworthy information on the platform, we are able to reduce costs and save time, which is a game-changer. By bringing together different groups of people, from landowners to carbon credit buyers, Treefera creates a community united in the fight against climate change, and we are honoured to be a part of this collaborative effort.”
