May 24, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Galvanize Climate Solutions, the investment vehicle launched by billionaire Tom Steyer and partner Katie Hall, has led a $38 million Series B for Regrow Ag – a leading tech platform dedicated to ushering food and ag companies toward their zero carbon goals. 

This round also included new investors TIME Ventures, the VC fund launched by Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, Rethink Impact, the largest VC in the U.S. focused on female leaders that are solving global challenges. Additional existing investors that participated included Cargill, Main Sequence Ventures, Ajax Strategies, Neglected Climate Opportunities, and Microsoft’s M12, among others.

Regrow was officially announced in February 2021; the result of the merging of FluroSat and Dagan, bringing together agronomic monitoring and decision facilitation with soil carbon modeling capabilities. 

The combined entity, under the new name Regrow Ag, had the ability to “unlock the value of carbon markets and drive universal adoption of sustainable agriculture practices across the entire supply chain”, noted a statement announcing the startup’s launch. 

Through its independent, scalable, and in-depth platform, Regrow Ag connects ecosystem benefits generated on the farm to supply chain incentives – enabling farmers to generate income and corporations to decarbonize. And in the end, making the activity of food production part of the solution to the climate crisis. Structured as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, Regrow enrolls farmers in programs that pay them to integrate regenerative practices that reduce emissions into their production models to conserve natural resources and improve the soil. 

After enrollment, Regrow employs satellites and remote sensing technologies to monitor and track the reduction of emissions, giving validity to the entire process.

“Regrow has filled a gap in the market with its all-in-one sustainable agriculture Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) solutions — unlocking a credible path for agriculture to participate in ecosystem service markets on a global scale,” said Veery Maxwell, partner, Galvanize, and co-head of the innovation and expansion strategy. “Regrow’s enterprise software platform is making it possible for all organizations committed to net-zero to leverage regenerative agriculture to meet their commitments.”

The close of this funding aligns with a period of dynamic momentum for Regrow. Food and agriculture account for 26 percent of global carbon emissions. However, at  the same time, awareness of natural solutions as powerful tools to reduce and offset these carbon emissions is increasing.

This escalation includes commitments being made by the world’s major CPGs to set ambitious sustainability goals and targets. Currently, Regrow’s global solutions platform drives regenerative ag programs on more than 2 million acres, including for partners Cargill, Kellogg’s, and General Mills.

“At Cargill we are committed to building connected supply chains, bringing together people from farm to fork to ensure we’re nourishing the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way,” said Nathan Fries, agricultural supply chain North America sustainability lead, Cargill. “Regrow’s Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) platform with its leading science and technology and ease of use for farmers is central to enabling Cargill’s global commitment to a sustainable supply chain.”

Amid this rapidly shifting ethos among the world’s top organizations, Regrow has released three novel and powerful products within the past 24 months, including the afore-mentioned, industry-leading Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) platform.

“This new round of funding from leading climate-focused investors is a big milestone for Regrow and for the soil carbon MRV space at large,” said Anastasia Volkova, PhD, CEO and co-founder, Regrow. “We are thrilled to enter this new stage of growth with the support of an exceptional group of partners.”

With this capital, Regrow intends to expand the reach of its customer initiatives in key food processing regions around the world. It also plans to connect more farmers with the benefits of regenerative agriculture, and the revenue streams that are possible through ecosystem markets. The company stated that it will continue to invest in strengthening its partnerships, enabling more companies to reach their net-zero carbon goals, and will strive to grow one of the most qualified teams in the industry.

“Agriculture needs resilience not just to put food on our plates today, but to support a livable planet for future generations,” said Volkova. “At Regrow, we are excited to be the trusted partner in delivering on organizations’ net-zero goals by leveraging the global opportunity of regenerative agriculture.”

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

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