June 26, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

The UN postulates that global climate, biodiversity, and land degradation goals will remain unmet unless investments in nature-based solutions more than double by 2025, to $384 billion per year. 

Doing their part, Equator VC has led a $4.2 million funding round for Downforce Technologies, a UK-based climate tech leader in soil organic carbon measurement and prediction. Through this transaction, Equator VC joins the company’s existing investors Tiverton Agriculture Impact Fund, Dragonfly Enviro Capital, Perivoli Innovations, and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), whose investment is managed by Virescent Ventures.

Downforce Technologies explained that food producers who rely on global supply chains (especially in Africa) for sourcing their inputs face increasing regulatory pressures amid growing uncertainty, creating an ever greater need for better visibility and traceability of natural capital stocks in their supply chains. 

However, measuring natural capital, particularly soil organic carbon, has proven to be challenging as in-field measurement is expensive, time-consuming, and carries a surprisingly high margin for errors.

In response, Downforce Technologies was founded in 2020 to make soil carbon measurement technology both accessible and affordable. The company’s groundbreaking natural capital analytics platform leverages cutting-edge modeling and remote sensing to provide farmers, landowners, and communities with the most reliable, impartial, and cost-effective method for soil organic carbon measurement. 

With a foundation on world-leading, independently validated science, Downforce® provides tools to plan and deliver ISO 14064-2 verified carbon projects, land management insights for soil health and interventions, and acts as farm emissions data integration for net-zero emissions reporting. 

This technology empowers farmers to track their progress toward sustainability goals; to unlock new revenue streams; and to drive positive climate action. It also gives access to historical and current soil organic carbon assessments on agricultural land, and tools for planning and executing verified carbon projects. 

“Our investment stems from a comprehensive assessment of Downforce Technologies’ science, team, and technology,” said Nijhad Jamal, managing partner, Equator. “Downforce has successfully introduced a compelling software platform which should act as a catalyst for increased investment in soil organic carbon globally, and particularly in Africa, to ensure food security, promote climate mitigation and ensure resilience to climate change.”

The company has stated that the capital gained through this round will be used to drive its international expansion and to further its product development initiatives. 

“We’ve built robust technology based on excellent science, a fantastic product, and a growing client base,” said Professor Jacquie McGlade, co-founder and chief science officer, Downforce Technologies. “This funding allows us to democratize access to the technology and empower a wider audience to make data-driven decisions for soil health and climate action.”

~ 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. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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