Arbonics raises €5.5 million to scale its forest-carbon removal platform

Press Release

• Arbonics is building the highest-quality forest carbon platform to fight climate change
• It has developed a unique data and science-based tool for remotely calculating the suitability and impact of afforestation projects
• By bridging the gap between the potential of nature and the power of tech, Arbonics makes forest carbon removal projects transparent, accurate, verifiable and scalable
• Launched in late 2022, the naturetech company works with 4,000 landowners, planting 4 million+ trees across European markets and is trusted by a growing number of multinational organisations

December 14, 2023 TALLINN, ESTONIA – Arbonics – the naturetech pioneer building the highest-quality, scalable forest carbon removal platform in Europe – has secured a €5.5 million Seed investment from NordicNinja, Plural and Tilia Impact Ventures to meet growing demand for quality carbon removal. The investment will allow Arbonics to continue scaling its innovative climate change solution across the continent.

This funding round takes the total raised by the Estonian company to €7.3m. The latest investment will be used to further develop Arbonics’ product portfolio to cover the entire forestry lifecycle, grow its team and expand to cover 50% of European forests next year.

A new standard in carbon transparency

Founded in 2022 by CEO Kristjan Lepik and COO Lisett Luik, Arbonics is setting a new standard for how transparent, scalable, and impactful forest carbon projects can, and should, be. Not just for those looking to invest in forestry projects, but for the thousands of landowners who are increasingly looking to Arbonics to better quantify the environmental benefits of their land.

Carbon removal is widely recognised as the only way to reach the Paris Agreement targets and forests are at the heart of its impact. Studies show nature-based solutions could account for as much as 30% of the global mitigation needed, and forests will account for up to 80% of this. This vast potential has seen demand for nature-based carbon credits grow 20x since 2016, and the market is scaling fast; on track to hit $150bn by 2035, up from $67m just seven years ago.

Nature alone already removes almost 2 gigatonnes of CO2 every year through growing forests, restored wetlands and healthy soils and could reach as high as 10GT a year by 2050 – the equivalent to all the emissions from the entire global transport sector.

Yet this will only happen if we fundamentally change how we manage forests.

The complexities of ecosystems, the ongoing issues surrounding the Voluntary Carbon Market, the need for monitoring, verification, and the sheer scale of the problem, though, are all calling for a technological intervention.

Arbonics’ platform is the solution.

Bridging the gap between nature and tech

The Arbonics platform combines 30+ layers of data – from on-the-ground sensors to soil readings and satellite imagery – with in-house ecology and forestry expertise, to remotely, and accurately, calculate the carbon removal potential of land in European countries. It can determine everything from which trees are needed to reach the land’s potential, to establishing their carbon impact, in seconds.

By bridging the gap between nature and technology, Arbonics is provably scalable. It’s already unlocked new revenue sources for 4,000 landowners through analysis of 200,000+ hectares and the planting of 4 million+ trees across multiple European markets. By the end of 2024, it plans to cover 50% of Europe’s forest.

It’s transparent and trusted. The platform has strategic partnerships with institutions like Swedbank – which launched a product with Arbonics to finance planting new forests – and is trusted by a growing group of multinational organisations to meet critical credit buying needs.

And Arbonics represents the future of carbon projects. The tool is already fully developed and in use for afforestation in the Baltics and Finland. With the additional funding, the data-based approach will be scaled out to cover existing forests – a solution that Arbonics is seeing increasing demand for from landowners both in and outside of Europe.

The funding will also see Arbonics add further layers of impact assessments for biodiversity, triple its team and build out its work with leading scientists with the launch of a scientific advisory board. In addition to backing from leading impact investors, Arbonics recently won MasterCard’s MASSIV social impact program.

Arbonics CEO Kristjan Lepik said: “With this recent funding we're poised to make a significant impact, not just as a business but as a catalyst for meaningful change. This year has been tough on the carbon markets, and with concerns around the Voluntary Carbon Market but it’s exactly what it needed to mature. It proved just how important it is for the market to be more transparent and proven for forest carbon projects, and at Arbonics, that’s what we’re building. Our tech stack is designed to elevate the nature-based removals industry, setting a new standard for what can be achieved when forests and technology work in harmony. With the support of our latest investors, we can continue building what we consider to be the future of transparent carbon removal.”

Taavet Hinrikus, Partner at Plural said: "While many new projects are being started on the technological carbon removal, those solutions take time. A luxury we do not have. If we take technologies and empower nature with them, in the way that Arbonics does, scalable solutions can happen already this decade.”

Rainer Sternfeld, Managing Partner at NordicNinja said: "Arbonics is exactly the kind of innovative, scalable and sustainable solution we look for at NordicNinja. The company not only has the technology and market understanding, but also the vision and the team to make a significant difference. We see Arbonics as having the potential to conquer the market in this crucial sector. That's why we've made this strong bet on their, and our planet’s future."