Founded in 2016, eAgronom has grown into one of the biggest agtech companies in the Baltics. Beginning as a farm management software offering, the startup is now on a mission to transform the voluntary offset market and accelerate the transition to net-zero and has just raised €6.4 million to do so. The Series A equity round was led by Yolo Investments and ZGI Capital, with participation from Trind VC, Iron Wolf Capital and United Angels VC.
Agriculture is viewed as one of the major sources of global emissions today, it also represents a considerable opportunity for removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Soils constitute the largest carbon sink outside oceans, with scientists estimating soils can sequester over a billion additional tonnes of carbon a year.
Across the world, it’s becoming more and more clear that large-scale adoption of sustainable farming practices is required to help save our planet. However, financial constraints and complex regulations remain key barriers for many farmers to make a move – and too much of the pressure is falling on the shoulders of this sector. At the same time, carbon offsetting has come under increased scrutiny due to a lack of transparency and measurability.
The Estonian startup was founded to help farmers reduce the administrative load, often a paper-based process. Their solution developed into one of the largest farm management software solutions in Europe. eAgronom already helps over 1,500 agribusinesses (covering over a million hectares of land across Europe) to achieve higher yields and income with technology and consultancy services.
With the aid of the latest funding, eAgronom aims to pivot the majority of its business to its farming-based carbon credits platform, while continuing to expand to new markets (including outside of the EU) and improve its carbon tracking technologies.
Robin Saluoks, co-founder and CEO of eAgronom, said: “Through our experience helping farmers with technology, we are uniquely positioned to capture the global agri-carbon opportunity. We leveraged our 1 million hectare farmer portfolio to get started but can’t stop there. To fight climate change, we have to provide transparent tracking and access to capital to all nature-based companies. We believe there is an outcome that can provide a win to farmers, consumers, the environment, and businesses looking to enhance their green credentials while incorporating the most rigorous standards to measure and certify carbon sequestration. We aim to become the leading developer of high-quality carbon credits.”
The agtech distributor also plans to launch the new Solid World DAO. The idea behind it is to provide liquidity and transparency for high-quality carbon projects. Powered by blockchain and the Web3 community, it will help farmers and other carbon projects finance CO2 sequestration.
Normunds Igolnieks, General Partner at ZGI Capital, said: “It’s the type of innovation the world needs to tackle climate change: one that marries financial success with helping the planet. Monitoring software and farmer networks give the company a head start and strategic advantage. Combined with the global movement toward net zero, eAgronom is an exciting business to be a part of.”
via https://www.AiUpNow.com
February 9, 2022 at 09:06AM by contact@bcurdy.com, Khareem Sudlow
