Press Release: Farmers’ Fintech Agreena Raises €46m To Scale The Regenerative Revolution
PRESS RELEASE
FARMERS’ FINTECH AGREENA RAISES €46M TO SCALE THE REGENERATIVE REVOLUTION
Funding will support continued expansion of global carbon farming initiatives and new fintech solutions for the rapidly scaling company
(30 March 2023) Copenhagen, Denmark – Climate and fintech company Agreena, whose soil carbon platform is one of the largest globally, today announced its Series B raise of €46M. Led by Germany’s leading multi-stage investor HV Capital, the round has an exciting composition of new investors including impact fund AENU and fintech-focused Anthemis. The equity raise is also supported by a doubling-down from existing shareholders, including evergreen food investor Gullspång Re:food, well-established tech investor Kinnevik and Denmark’s Export and Investment fund.
The sizable raise comes just one year after the company’s €20M Series A. Since then, Agreena has scaled its activities 10X, expanded its geographic footprint to cover farmland in 16 European countries, and partnered with farms to help them transition more than 600,000 hectares towards climate-positive, regenerative farming.
“In order for the world’s farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture and create a scalable climate impact, the financial rails to support and pay them for it need to be built,” said Simon Haldrup, Co-founder and CEO of Agreena. “Agreena is building out technological and financial services infrastructure throughout the agriculture value chain as the industry increasingly becomes a focal point for decarbonisation efforts.”
Momentum around regenerative farming is sweeping the globe, with corporates, governments and supply chains turning their focus to our agricultural soils for carbon removals in order to meet global net-zero targets. Through the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices, farmers will play an increasingly essential role in tackling climate change, food insecurity, and other critical environmental issues. Agreena has developed a way to turn this impact into a new and additional revenue stream for farmers to help finance the transition by leveraging the carbon market.
Via the company’s digital platform, farmers plan, track and validate improvements for their regenerative journey, in the process transitioning from emitting CO2 to drawing CO2 down and storing it within their soils. The improved soil health and biodiversity reduce the need for inputs while enhancing farmers’ resilience to increasingly adverse climate conditions (such as drought or flooding), enhancing the overall operational performance of farms. On the other side of the equation, Agreena’s certificates and downstream services support climate-focused companies already working to decarbonise, as well as companies in the food supply chain increasingly requiring field-level traceability of their agricultural commodities to comply with Scope 3 reporting requirements.
Scaling with Technology
The recent acquisition of remote sensing company Hummingbird Technologies has enabled Agreena to expand its offering beyond farmers to encompass agridata services for supply chain players, governments and other institutions. Prioritising a science-based and technology-first agenda, Agreena’s platform now incorporates a world-leading, AI-based monitoring and verification solution that utilises satellite imagery, coupled with ground-truth data and machine learning to identify and report on-farm regenerative agriculture practices. Offering global monitoring, the company is on a mission to take the lead in supporting the road to net zero for the full value chain.
“Real climate impact is only created at scale and Agreena is perfectly positioned to distribute their carbon farming capabilities across the globe to bring high-quality, verifiable and nature-based carbon credits to the market. Only with carbon removals, can net zero targets be met,” said Alexander Joel-Carbonell, partner at HV Capital.
From Farmer to Fintech
Deeply rooted within the agricultural community, Agreena was originally founded with seed investment from Danish farmers and agricultural families. The company’s next phase introduces a vertically integrated platform and marketplace. Working first with farmers in the field to monitor the carbon impact, the resulting certificates are constructed into scalable portfolios for corporates, tailored to their unique ESG strategy.
The company is taking a lead in providing the technological rails for the growing market with innovative financial solutions. Examples include using sustainable blockchain technology for enhanced traceability and transparency of carbon credits, and e-money and smart contracts to facilitate payment exchanges between climate-conscious corporates and farmers with immediate reconciliation at scale.
“We are on a journey to remove the economic barriers to adoption of regenerative agriculture for farmers and their entire ecosystem - carbon is just the beginning,” concluded Haldrup.
About Agreena
Agreena unlocks the power of soil carbon removals and natural capital to finance the transition to regenerative agriculture. Working in close collaboration with partner farmers across 16 European markets and growing, AgreenaCarbon is the world’s leading soil carbon platform. Combined with market leading satellite monitoring technologies, Agreena’s solutions can support farmers, companies, and governments on the road to net zero.
About Agreena’s Carbon Certification
Agreena’s programme is accredited to the ISO 14064-2 standard, with a third-party verified methodology that is aligned to IPCC science. The company is standards-inclusive and will continue to evolve its offering as policies and science continue to develop. Further, the company is currently undergoing certification with Verra, completion of the process is expected later this year.
About HV Capital
HV Capital is one of the most successful and financially strongest early-stage and growth investors in Europe. Since 2000, HV Capital has invested in around 225 internet and technology companies such as Zalando, Delivery Hero, Flixbus, and HelloFresh through various generations of funds and is continuously looking for the next generation of disruptors from every industry, including FinTech, SaaS, climate tech, and consumer goods. The company supports startups with capital between €500,000 to €50 million and is one of the few venture capital firms in Europe that can finance startups through all growth phases.
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Media Contact:
Nicole Shore
External Communications Manager
Nicole.Shore@agreena.com
Press Release: Agreena goes ‘first-ever’ on blockchain with ZTLment
PRESS RELEASE
Agreena goes ‘first-ever’ on blockchain: tokenized carbon crediting attached to real currency
Carbon farming scaleup Agreena announces its latest endeavor to enable a regenerative revolution in agriculture. The company is launching the world’s first product that can tokenize carbon certificates and move euros on blockchain in collaboration with the European payments institution Ztlment.
COPENHAGEN (3 November 2022) – While many tech junkies get into blockchain as a solution looking for a problem, farmer’s fintech Agreena has taken a different approach.
Today the company announced that it is enhancing its core product offering - soil carbon certificates - with tokenization on blockchain for automated money movement. Using on chain e-money, Agreena and Ztlment are taking a first-ever position in the market, bullying out unregulated stablecoins or volatile cryptocurrency. Agreena says its Web3 solution has been developed to meet farmers’ needs for instantaneous payments while retaining the credibility and security of a regulated payment system.
“We see our new ability to use blockchain for issuing payments as a key to unlock the market for farmers to transition from conventional agriculture to carbon farming,” says Simon Haldrup, CEO of Agreena. “With agriculture responsible for approximately one-third of the global carbon footprint, the switch to regenerative farming practices creates one of the greatest opportunities for climate action in the world - we are here to enable that.”
Regenerative agriculture not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions - but actually turns soils into carbon sinks, naturally removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it. But the most significant hurdle for thin-margin farmers to take up climate-friendly practices are the upfront costs associated with the transition. With virtually no incentives aside from the private sector to subsidize the change, Haldrup co-founded Agreena in 2019 to support farmers’ entrance into the green economy by connecting them to the voluntary carbon market.
To deliver seamless and instant payments for farmers, Agreena partnered with the first regulated European payments institute built on blockchain, Ztlment. The two Danish fintech players have just successfully tokenized carbon credits on the world’s most powerful and sustainable blockchain, Algorand, and have connected the payment for those tokens to real euros with smart contract software.
“We set out to do away the complexity of blockchain and open banking regulation,” says Mads Stolberg-Larsen, co-founder and CEO of Ztlment, who offer automated payment solutions that can move euros instantly and automatically on blockchain in full regulatory compliance. “With Agreena, we have built one of the first examples where real-life assets on blockchain can be traded for real-life money.”
The money gets on- and off chain via Ztlment’s e-money partner, Monerium. Under existing open banking regulation e-money is just as much money as bank deposits and cash are. All three things are simply called “funds.”
“Farmers don’t need to know a thing about tokens or on-chain payments to see the reward we are bringing,” says Haldrup, “But nonetheless, this is a hallmark moment, not only for carbon farming but also for the blockchain community and people driving real-world use cases of Web3.”
About Agreena
Agreena is scaling regenerative agriculture through finance and technology. Founders Simon Haldrup, Ida Boesen, and Julie Koch Fahler developed one of the world’s first internationally accredited soil carbon payment programmes, AgreenaCarbon, in 2021. The AgTech platform quantifies farmers’ greenhouse gas emission baselines aligned to the latest United Nations IPCC guidelines, and monitors and reports GHG reductions and carbon removals. The company then mints third-party verified soil carbon certificates for farmers which can be sold on the voluntary carbon market. Since launching, Agreena has spanned its offering to farmers in 13 countries throughout Europe and recently acquired world-leading regenerative agriculture remote sensing company Hummingbird Technologies. Read more at agreena.com.
About ZTLment
ZTLment is a European payments institution offering smart contract software that is fully compliant with Payment Service Directive 2 (PSD2). With a snippet of code, digital marketplaces and cloud based B2B platforms can offer business workflows, which instantly and automatically move money and value between buyers, sellers and financiers. The company is founded by Mads Stolberg-Larsen, Jason Spasovski and Harry Kearney and is headquartered in Copenhagen. It is registered as a payments institution with the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FTID 22043). Read more at ztlment.com
About Algorand
Algorand is transforming economic models and economies of all kinds. Founded by Turing Award–winning cryptographer Silvio Micali, Algorand’s high–performing Layer-1 blockchain is unparalleled for bringing fast, frictionless, and inclusive technologies to everyone. Algorand is reshaping every industry–from TradFi and DeFi to new creator economies and beyond. With an extraordinary commitment to interoperability and consistent delivery, the company’s sustainable technology powers more participation, transparency, and efficiency for all. As the technology of choice for 2000+ global organizations, the Algorand ecosystem is transforming the next generation of financial products, protocols and exchange of value.
Read more at algorand.com
About Monerium
Monerium is a financial technology company with the mission of making digital currency accessible, secure, and simple to transact online. Monerium is the first and only company authorized to issue regulated e-money on blockchains. Using e-money issued by Monerium, individuals and businesses can store and send programmable digital currency online without going through traditional financial institutions and payment providers.
Read more at monerium.com
Contact:
Erica Johnson
erica.johnson@agreena.com
+45 3152 4980
Press Release: Agreena acquires Hummingbird Technologies
PRESS RELEASE
Carbon farming agtech Agreena acquires Hummingbird Technologies to scale markets with integrity
Today’s announced acquisition from Agreena comes as an industry-first in regenerative agriculture. As the new marketplace for soil carbon certification quickly develops, the purchase of groundbreaking MRV-technology from Hummingbird further ensures the validity of its carbon certificates. This deal enhances Agreena’s capabilities and consolidates its leading market position.
COPENHAGEN (28 July 2022) – Technology is one of the main drivers in scaling the verification of carbon offset projects, with data and automation ensuring both its speed and fidelity. Agreena’s cross-border acquisition of U.K.-based Hummingbird Technologies is clear proof of this dynamic. With this new chapter in their partnership, Agreena puts key financial and commercial resources into the development of Hummingbird’s MRV (monitoring, reporting & verification) technology, a crucial innovation that helps create trustworthiness around soil carbon certificates.
Agreena and Hummingbird have closely collaborated for years, with the deal coming as an aligned strategic move between both leadership teams. The merger strengthens Agreena’s value chain, underlining the company’s internationally leading position within the agricultural sector for soil carbon certification. The purchase will result in a company with more than 80 combined employees. Agreena has been operating its soil carbon program in 13 countries throughout the pan-European market, and the new acquisition will build its operational capacity in the Americas and Australia.
“Agreena is on a mission to enable an international regenerative agriculture movement, and this market-leading MRV solution can deliver a massive scalable impact,” says Simon Haldrup, co-founder and CEO of Agreena. “We have been thoroughly investigating advanced technology solutions and working towards enhancing our protocol since day one - and with this acquisition, we are not only scaling but also enhancing the integrity of the market.”
Satellite technology helps verify farmers’ transition into sustainable production
Hummingbird's original technology vision as set out in 2016 by founder Will Wells, who will join Agreena as an advisor, was to alleviate the climate burden of intensive farming and food production through advanced remote sensing and data science. AI and satellite technology can support on-field data in proving that farmers have redirected their production towards more sustainable agricultural practices.
Hummingbird Technologies has developed a machine learning-based monitoring and verification solution that uses low-orbit satellite imagery and ground-truth data. It automatically recognises and reports on-farm regenerative agriculture practices such as cover crops, tillage, and crop rotations to track green biomass and continuously monitor field activities.
Agreena says that merging the two companies’ technology capabilities and bringing Hummingbird’s AI-based verification in-house is just the beginning and that jointly, the teams will be delivering innovative new tech solutions for the agriculture industry and soil carbon markets.
The perfect match
“Hummingbird and Agreena were early pioneers in what is now a thriving regenerative agriculture economy. Our complementary technologies have enabled this market to take off, and as such, this is the perfect match,” says Alexander Jevons, CEO of Hummingbird Technologies. “Our companies’ partnership-turned-marriage is a natural progression in a maturing and fast-growing industry.”
The two organisations will continue being led with their teams operating fully intact from Copenhagen and London - independently united in human, technology, and market resources.
About Agreena
Founded by visionary agriculture and FinTech specialists and started as a digital trading platform intended to make grains trading more democratic and efficient, today Agreena is one of the first platforms across Europe to facilitate issuing and trading of carbon certificates for farmers and is now serving 13 countries in Europe. The AgreenaCarbon program follows the crop year and thus allows the farmers to reap the value of their climate efforts on an annual basis. The program and its certificates are third-party validated and verified by DNV. For more information on Agreena, visit https://agreena.com.
About Hummingbird Technologies
Hummingbird Technologies provides advanced remote sensing analytics to improve the sustainability of the agri-food sector. The company uses artificial intelligence and deep learning to deliver monitoring, reporting & verification (MRV) for regenerative agriculture, enabling farmers to monetize carbon credits and other ecosystem services. For more information on Hummingbird Technologies, visit https://hummingbirdtech.com.
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Media Contact
Erica Johnson
erica.johnson@agreena.com
+ 45 3152 4980
Fram Farmers and Agreena partner over the green economy
Fram Farmers and Agreena partner over the green economy
Purchasing and crop marketing co-operative Fram Farmers and soil carbon certification company Agreena have formed a partnership to boost soil carbon sequestration in the UK and reward farmers for making the transition.
The partners say farmers can take a major role in moves to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere through conservation agriculture practices that regenerate soils and turn them into carbon sinks.
Fram Farmers will work with Agreena to educate its 1,400-farmer network about soil carbon certification and provide access to the green economy through the voluntary carbon market. “We’re working together to make an impact in agriculture, while supporting an additional new revenue stream for Fram Farmers’ members,” says Ida Boesen, co-founder of Agreena.
The Agreena platform helps farmers input data around individual fields and receive GHG emission baselines. They can create plans for a farm’s transition to regenerative practices and receive estimated potential earnings for each harvest year. Agreena monitors and verifies fields before issuing third-party verified carbon certificates, which can be held for the farm or sold as offsets to climate-conscious companies.
“The AgreenaCarbon programme is designed to help farmers overcome the knowledge and financial barriers around their ability to capture carbon via regenerative farming and soil sequestration,” says Fram Farmers chief executive Andrew Knowles. “We chose to partner with Agreena as the company has created a model that puts farmers first. Farmers have complete control of their carbon certificates, and through the connection to the voluntary carbon market, can be confident that they will maximise the value of their efforts.”
Ms Boesen adds: “In the immediate term, there is potential for cost reductions in fertiliser and crop protection and lower fuel and labour costs, all helping to drive up profitability. However, the benefits to the environment cannot be overestimated: improved soil quality driving up resiliency, higher water retention capacity, higher nutrient content and enhanced biodiversity.”
Read the article at AgriTradeNews.co.uk
Getting the value out of climate change policy
Getting the value out of climate change policy
Focusing on farm business efficiency and carefully considering the value at each stage can help farmers and their advisors plot a path through myriad offerings connected with climate change.
Speaking at the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) Hybrid Conference and AGM, Jason Jordan, estates director of the 4,860ha Knowsley Estate, said he was becoming more climate aware, but he didn't feel in full possession of what needed to be done and where.
"We may want to look at biodiversity net gain – but what we don't want is to commit only to find out later it wasn't the right decision."
Any decisions to take land out of agricultural production need to be carefully considered, said Charlie Ireland, managing partner at Ceres Rural adding that if habitat and soils were considered separately, opportunities would be missed. "Agriculture emits 10% of greenhouse gases," he said. "But its ability to also sequester carbon can be used as a means to top up income which may be of interest to some businesses as BPS falls off.
"Companies like Agreena and Trinity Capital are paying farmers not for results but on a production system basis, valuing carbon at £30-£60ha depending on the level of intensity, or extensivity of the system – lower cultivations and regenerative systems," said Mr Ireland. "It is important to weigh the impact on productivity – businesses need to be aware of this."
With no standard tools for measuring carbon the variation in results can be large, he added. "Some make allowance for sequestering carbon on farms and some don't. We need standardisation of measurements if we are going to increase confidence in the ability of businesses to market carbon."
NFU vice president, Tom Bradshaw said too much time is spent on debating which carbon calculator to use. "With ELMs the government needs to incentivise uptake of carbon calculation and back one, two or three credible mechanisms.
"When it comes to soil organic matter there are two different tests with widely ranging organic matter levels. We need a standard protocol.
"Some people within Defra believe tree planting is the way forward - not at what agriculture can deliver, like hedges and improved soil organic matter. It isn't all about tree planting and taking land out of food production."
CAAV secretary and adviser Jeremy Moody questioned whether carbon had much value for sale, suggesting it had more value at home. "With its level of emissions, it is a hard job for agriculture to reach net zero. Farmers will need to hold carbon for their own net zero progress – helping someone else be net zero will not help the farm. It also has a low value at £7-£15/t at farm level and farms will not have that many tonnes to consider."
Soil is arguably a bigger issue for farming, he added. "Many soils have become depleted and their improvement supports good farming. But this is a net cost and how do we value it?"
To be net zero by 2050 is a very challenging target, he said "The UK has done the easiest 40% - better than most countries and with little effect on the public and ways of life. But it will get harder from now on, and it will be better and cheaper to tackle it in a planned way.
Read the article at Farming.co.uk