Cultivo, a nature-based carbon removal and land regeneration start-up, has raised $14m in Series A funding to accelerate its mission to unlock investment into regenerating nature at scale through high-quality projects, according to a news release.
The funding round co-led by MassMutual Ventures and Octopus Energy Generation, with participation from Salkantay Ventures and Peña Verde, will speed up the business’ growth and brings Cultivo’s total funding to over $20m.
As part of this news, Cultivo has also signed an agreement with Octopus Energy Generation for them to deploy up to $40m into natural capital projects across North America, Europe and Australasia.
Cultivo’s pipeline of natural capital projects surpassed 100m hectares last year, equivalent to more than double the land size of California. This pipeline has the potential to remove more than 3 Gigatons of carbon dioxide, which is roughly equivalent to the EU’s annual carbon emissions (2.73 GtCO₂ in 2022).
The growth in Cultivo’s pipeline has been driven by financial institutions and companies turning to Cultivo to originate their own high-quality natural capital projects. For example, projects that regenerate degraded land through sustainable grassland management or reforestation activities.
Cultivo co-designs and monitors these high-quality projects to measure the increases in carbon capture, biodiversity, and water storage, as well as the social impact on the local communities and land stewards.
Commenting on the new funding, Dr Manuel Piñuela, CEO and Co-Founder of Cultivo, said: “Investors are recognizing the value and scale of the natural capital investment opportunity, and companies are wanting to secure a future supply of high-quality carbon removal credits to mitigate volatility and quality concerns seen in the voluntary carbon market. This funding allows us to continue to deliver our growing pipeline of high-quality natural capital projects for our institutional customers, and accelerate the development of our AI-driven science & technology platform. We’re deeply honored to have MassMutual Ventures and Octopus Energy Generation join us on our mission to regenerate nature at scale.”
