February 17, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Based in Copenhagen, Agreena is a carbon market startup that originates, verifies, and sells carbon credits generated by farmers through the integration and adoption of regenerative production practices. 

Today, 34 percent of the publicly traded companies in the world have already made commitments to achieve net-zero targets, indicating that demand for reliable carbon removal credits will continue to increase in the coming years in order for these companies to reach the ambitious goals they’ve set.

The voluntary carbon market is gaining attention from international investors, corporates, and global leaders as it becomes key in reaching the objectives set in the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels by 2050 – something that will necessitate not only huge emission reductions, but negative emissions. 

By giving farmers the ability to track and quantify their biodiversity benefits and climate-smart improvements, and then converting those achievements into carbon certificates, Agreena plays a key role in transitioning agricultural production into a more sustainable and profitable endeavor.

Agreena explains that to do this it combines field-level practices with advanced technologies to capture the climate impact farmers make by coupling five years of ground-truth data with an IPCC-aligned GHG farm model developed by top-tier universities which is then overlaid with soil and climatic data inputs. 

Additional field inspections are then conducted by an independent third-party verifier before Agreena issues CO2-e certificates which can then be used to offset emissions in the voluntary carbon market.

Agreena’s work gained it $4.7 million in Seed funding from Giant Ventures, the Danish Green Future Fund, and an undisclosed number of European farmers last October. Today, the continued potential for what Agreena is doing has led European growth-stage investor Kinnevik to lead a €20-million (US$22.7 million) Series A for the company that included existing investor Giant Ventures, Vaekstfonden, the Danish state investment fund, as well as angel investors and a number of unnamed farmers. 

“The genesis of our company is deeply rooted to farmers, and with a strong fintech backbone, our mission, aligned with our investors, is to break down barriers for farmers so they can maximize their thin margins while simultaneously making the world a better place,” said Simon Haldrup, co-founder and CEO, Agreena. “With both our climate and our soils in a state of emergency, farmers who have historically been singled out to blame now have the opportunity to become the heroes of future generations – and get paid.”

Farmers work with the company and expert agronomists to develop detailed plans that incorporate regenerative agriculture practices that capture carbon in the soil each harvest cycle. And last year Agreena was one of the first European companies to gain international accreditation to quantify, measure, report, and verify greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and removal actions focused specifically on soil and sustainable farming methods.

“But regenerative farming is not all about turning soil into carbon sinks,” noted Haldrup. “From day one, our program was developed with agronomists that are experts in conservation agriculture. Our entire suite of practices provide a plethora of benefits beyond soil health and management – boosted nutrients and biodiversity, improved water infiltration, enhanced ecosystems, and healthier crop yields.”

Agreena also has its eye on the wider picture, looking beyond simple carbon capture to improving soil health as a means to attain the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on zero hunger, climate action, and life on land.

Haldrup noted that this year the company is enhancing its protocol and building out a classification system, creating a distinction between its reduction certificates and removal certificates for the voluntary carbon market, and is currently evaluating SDG quantification and reporting tools that can be attributed to individual certificates in the future in order to secure the full impact created by AgreeenCarbon farmers. 

In its first year, Agreena has scaled its solution to support farmers in eight European countries, and is now positioning for expansion. With the capital from this round the company stated that it will begin “a hiring spree” and will enhance its protocol and its tech stack with blockchain for greater transparency and traceability, while continuing to develop new future solutions for farmers.

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– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.