March 20, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Climate tech startup Andes has officially closed its Series A at $30 million, bringing total funding to-date to $38 million from a broad range of investors including Voyager VC, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Leaps by Bayer, Cavallo Ventures, KdT Ventures, Venturance, Germin8, and Accelr8.

Andes’ approach entails leveraging millions of acres of existing farmland to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. When a crop is planted, the company’s beneficial microorganisms are also added to the soil where they grow with the plants’ roots, capturing CO2 from the air and converting it to minerals that will remain in the ground for millions of years. Along the way, the microorganisms provide multiple benefits to the plant and soil including increased water permeability, greater aeration, and the availability of nutrients leading to healthier soil and crops. To-date, the company’s technology has successfully removed more than 50,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. 

“Catastrophic climate disasters that jeopardize human life and natural resources are inevitable without high-permanence, scalable carbon sequestration. Andes is proud to transform the carbon dioxide removal industry with the tools that are required for a brighter, livable future for all,” said Gonzalo Fuenzalida, CEO and co-founder, Andes. “The completion of our Series A marks another milestone on our timeline of accelerated growth as the first company to provide organizations with high volume, long-lasting carbon removal solutions at a low price point.”

In 2022, Andes partnered with farmers throughout the U.S. Midwest, deploying its technology across 25,000 acres. The company noted that these farmer-partners enrolled in its Carbon Removal Program have seen benefits to their crops and can increase their net income by up to 25 percent by participating, going on to add that this year it has seen a threefold increase in interest from farmers.

“Investing in companies that enable longer, healthier lives is at the heart of Yamaha’s mission,” said Kei Onishi, CEO, Yamaha Motor Ventures. “We’re proud to support Andes as the company makes strides towards solving one of the world’s most pressing climate challenges: reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Onishi continued, “Fighting climate change and protecting future generations from severe natural disasters depends on our ability to scale high-permanence carbon dioxide removals. Andes’ unique solutions promise a more sustainable world where organizations can commit to their net zero emissions goals with full confidence.”

The National Academy of Sciences estimates that 10 gigatons of CO2 needs to be removed per year in order to limit global warming to the critical 1.5° Celsius. And as more companies race to offset their emissions, the carbon dioxide removal market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 19.5 percent to reach US$7 billion over the period 2021-2028, according to Fortune Business Insights. 

With the capital from this Series A, Andes will be able to make its carbon removal credits available to organizations of all sizes, giving companies across a range of industries the ability to meet their sustainability goals. It also will continue to develop its innovative microorganism technology enabling even more farmers to transition to reliable, eco-friendly products and practices.

“At Voyager VC, we’re committed to backing climate-motivated founders who are leading the charge in the global carbon transition,” said Sarah Sclarsic, co-founder and managing partner, Voyager VC. “By supporting Andes, we’re doing exactly that as the company continues to build groundbreaking solutions at the intersection of biology and climate tech. Their pioneering technology can remove carbon from the atmosphere, safely locking it into minerals for thousands of years, while at the same time rebuilding healthy soils.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief 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 Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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