• Cultivo’s pipeline of high-quality nature-based carbon removal projects surpasses 100m hectares, equivalent to more than double the land size of California
• New funding allows Cultivo to supercharge its AI-driven science & technology platform
• The round follows Mark Carney joining Cultivo’s board and brings the company’s total funding to over $20m
• Cultivo signs agreement with Octopus Energy Generation to deploy up to $40m into natural capital projects

January 30, 2024 03:02 AM Eastern Standard Time

SAN FRANCISCO & BOSTON & LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cultivo, a public benefit corporation, today announced it has raised $14 million in Series A funding to accelerate its mission to unlock investment into regenerating nature at scale through high-quality projects.

The funding round co-led by MassMutual Ventures and Octopus Energy Generation, with participation from Salkantay Ventures and Peña Verde, will speed up the business’ growth and brings Cultivo’s total funding to over $20 million.

The news follows a strong year for Cultivo, which saw it welcome Mark Carney onto its board, and its pipeline of natural capital projects surpass 100m hectares, equivalent to more than double the land size of California. This pipeline has the potential to remove more than 3 Gigatons of carbon dioxide, which is roughly equivalent to the EU’s annual carbon emissions (2.73 GtCO₂ in 2022).

The growth in Cultivo’s pipeline has been driven by financial institutions and companies turning to Cultivo to originate their own high-quality natural capital projects. For example, projects that regenerate degraded land through sustainable grassland management or reforestation activities.

Cultivo co-designs and monitors these high-quality projects to measure the increases in carbon capture, biodiversity, and water storage, as well as the social impact on the local communities and land stewards.

Commenting on the new funding, Dr Manuel Piñuela, CEO and Co-Founder of Cultivo, said: “Investors are recognizing the value and scale of the natural capital investment opportunity, and companies are wanting to secure a future supply of high-quality carbon removal credits to mitigate volatility and quality concerns seen in the voluntary carbon market. This funding allows us to continue to deliver our growing pipeline of high-quality natural capital projects for our institutional customers, and accelerate the development of our AI-driven science & technology platform. We’re deeply honored to have MassMutual Ventures and Octopus Energy Generation join us on our mission to regenerate nature at scale.”

As part of this news, Cultivo has also signed an agreement with Octopus Energy Generation for them to deploy up to $40 million into natural capital projects across North America, Europe and Australasia.

Timothy Krysiek, Managing Partner of the Climate Technology Fund at MassMutual Ventures said, “Cultivo’s focus on leveraging technology to rapidly scale investment in the next generation of high-quality, nature-based carbon removal projects that enrich biodiversity matched our forward view of natural capital markets. Our investment in Cultivo reflects our broader strategy of partnering with exceptional teams who are addressing important, historically underfunded climate challenges.”

Alex Brierley, co-head of Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management team, added: “Cultivo are leading the way in carbon removal projects which are helping the natural environment flourish while providing meaningful benefits to local communities that host them. Their tech-led approach, track-record and experienced team means we’re confident Cultivo has a winning formula for long-term success in this essential and fast-growing market. We’re looking forward to working with them as they grow and develop more projects globally, making a truly positive impact.”

Notes to Editors

Cultivo’s current pipeline of nature-based projects has the potential to remove 3 Gigatons of carbon dioxide over an averaged period of 20 years. This figure is based on calculations derived from proprietary carbon tools in Cultivo’s platform, and is an aggregation of the carbon that could be captured across all projects in the pipeline. This figure is dynamic and is expected to increase as Cultivo’s pipeline of projects increases.

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