ANALYSIS: Billions of dollars continue to flow into the voluntary carbon market
Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Companies active in the voluntary carbon market raised over $636 million in the first three months of 2025, rising to more $1,485 million if money raised by funds is included, according to analysis by Quantum.
The figures exclude finance from offtake deals, which Quantum will assess separately in the next issue of Carbon Insights, but would rise to over $2,561 million if money targeted to be raised by funds announced in the first quarter of the year is included in the analysis.
The exact figures will also be even higher as several investments announced did not reveal the amount of funding involved.
Project developers led the way with more than $460 million raised, of which $250 million was US-based Artemeter's investment in Imperative Global. A further $160 million was secured by another US company, Chestnut Carbon.
The CO2 removals sector continued to attract finance with over $131 million raised in the period. Sizeable fund raises were reported by California-based direct air capture (DAC) company Capture6 ($27.5 million) and compatriot carbon capture and power-to-gas firm Terraform ($26 million). In other sectors of the VCM, UK-based ratings agency BeZero secured $32 million.
Project developers
Imperative Global
US carbon investment manager Artemeter invested $250 million in project developer Imperative Global, with the aim of giving further impetus to the latters carbon project development. The investment by Artemeter, part of global trading firm DRW, raised the worth of Imperative's ongoing project funding agreement with carbon intermediary Rubicon Carbon and trading firm Freepoint Commodities to up to $750 million.
"This deal will support the continued build-out of our infrastructure-grade native species reforestation and mangrove restoration project portfolio," said Scobie Mackay, chief executive of Imperative.
Chestnut Carbon
US-based nature-based developer Chestnut Carbon raised $160 million in a Series B funding round that will be used to expand the company's main afforestation scheme. Chestnut said financing came from existing investor Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, new investors Cloverlay and DBL Partners, with participation from "limited partners" of Chestnut's founding firm, Kimmeridge, which included university endowments, family offices, funds of funds, and other institutional investors.
The money raised will be spent on purchasing land to increase the size of its Gold Standard-registered Chestnut Sustainable Restoration Project, technological innovation, and expanding its team.
Mast
US-based Mast Reforestation closed a $25 million fundraising round to expand operations and add biomass burial to its portfolio of projects. The round was led by venture capital firm Pulse Fund and Social Capital, an investor in innovative technologies, with participation from venture capital outfit Seven Seven Six and other unnamed investors.
Carbon Done Right
Canada-based Carbon Done Right closed a private share placement raising a total of CAD423,750 ($293,975) that will help support its flagship reforestation project in Sierra Leone.
The Toronto-listed developer also said the resources would be employed in order to "meet investment requirements" associated with the pre-purchase agreement closed with UK-based oil company BP back in 2023 for up to 1.9 million carbon credits.
Boomitra
UAE-based Commercial Bank International has invested in US-headquartered soil carbon project developer and services provider Boomitra to help fund regenerative agriculture initiatives across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
The new investment will be used to finance a wider rollout of Boomitra AI-enabled solutions that aim to generate sufficiently sophisticated data needed by farmers to apply for carbon credits from various regenerative farming techniques.
Midori Climate Partner
Carbon project consultancy Midori Climate Partner completed its pre-seed funding round to enable it to scale its project pipeline, including the company's first biochar project in Cambodia. The round was led by Tokio Marine Holdings, Japan's largest property and casualty insurance group, alongside a group of individual investors.
"The funding will be used to hire key management talent and accelerate project development, initially launching its first biochar project in Cambodia," Midori said, adding that the company "plans to expand ecosystem restoration projects including biochar across Asia".
Grow Indigo
India-based agritech firm Grow Indigo secured $10 million from the UK government's main development finance institution to expand its carbon farming business across the country.
The British International Investment funding will speed up Grow Indigo's farmer enrolments and help scale carbon farming initiatives.
Varaha
India-based Varaha has secured funding from UK-based energy-focused commodities and environmental products investment manager Conductor Capital to help expand operations. The "multimillion US dollar, multi-carbon pathways" project investment will help Varaha grow its carbon projects across regions, reach a larger number of farmers, and provide greater benefits across diverse geographies, primarily in India and Nepal.
Creattura
Japanese carbon credit developer and consultancy Creattura raised fresh funding of JPY 200 million ($1.3 million) from Tokyo-based venture capital firms Global Brain and Nippon Venture Capital to advance its rice methane project in the Philippines.
Creattura, which has now raised a total of JPY 550 million, said the funding will help the company further develop its Joint Crediting Mechanism-based project in Pangasinan, Philippines.
Global Brain has committed the latest investment through two funds: Niterra's Suiso no Mori Fund and Tokyo Construction's Tokyu-CNST GB Innovation Fund.
Kaya Climate Solutions
Swedish oil and gas company Crown Energy has more than tripled its loan facility to Kaya Climate Solutions, a German project developer focussed on nature-based solution projects in sub-Saharan Africa.
Crown Energy initially struck its partnership with Kaya in early 2024 when it agreed to issue the developer a loan facility of 400 million Angolan kwanzas (AOA), equivalent to around $439,000, which can be converted into a 10% equity stake in Kaya.
That initial loan was doubled to AOA800 million at the end of last year, while it issued a second loan of €500 million, bringing its total loan to Kaya at around $1.4 million, the Swedish oil company said in its 2024 annual report.
DynaCert
Canadian company DynaCert, which has developed a Verra-approved methodology for reducing fuel consumption in vehicles by using hydrogen, closed a CAD5 million ($3.5 million) fundraise.
The company will use the proceeds to finance sales of its HydraGen technology products to participants in the mining, oil and gas, transportation and generator sectors and for working capital and for general corporate purposes.
It sold all the 33,333,333 units up for grabs at a price of CAD 0.15 each as part of a non-brokered private placement announced on February 14 and which was originally scheduled to close only on March 29.
Each unit includes one share of DynaCert, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as well as a stock warrant that can be converted into a second share at a strike price of CAD 0.20 over the next 36 months.
RLF AgTech
Australian plant nutrition company RLF AgTech has completed a AUD2.42 million ($1.52 million) fundraising rights issue. RLFAgTech said it raised the maximum amount allowed under its issue prospectus — AUD$1,543,210 via an entitlement issue and a further AUD874,304 through an oversubscribed shortfall placement.
"With this support, we can continue to build our team and resources, to roll out more of the Australian business strategy, and negotiate further distribution agreements," said Gavin Ball, the company's acting managing director
Faeger
Japan's agriculture-based developer Faeger raised JPY 1.17 billion in a series A round from venture firms Energy and Environmental Investment, Incubate Fund and insurance major Tokio Marine Holdings, it said. "With the funds invested, we will further expand our team, grow our business, and advance our international expansion," Faeger chief executive Takahiro Ishizaki said.
CO2 Removals
BlueShift
US start-up BlueShift raised $2.1 million in a pre-seed funding round. BlueShift's electrochemical system can process alkaline industrial waste and seawater to isolate critical minerals, such as nickel and rare earth metals dysprosium and neodymium, and also extracts CO2 from seawater as limestone.
It will provide the investment needed for BlueShift to begin construction of its pilot facility in the Boston Harbor.
Spiritus
California-based venture capital firm TDK Ventures has invested an undisclosed amount in Spiritus. The funding was led by ConocoPhillips, Ridgeline and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, among others.
The investment will boost the rollout of the passive direct air capture (DAC) technology developed by Spiritus, which offers a low-temperature desorption method. In total, Spiritus has raised $30 million in funds as part of a Series A led by Aramco Ventures and joined by Khosla Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America and TDK Ventures.
Origen Power
UK-based Origen Power has raised $13 million in a Series A funding round that will be used to help scale its limestone-based DAC technology and invest in further research. Origen Power said funding was led by Barclays Climate Ventures, part of the Barclays banking group, with participation from Shell Ventures, early-stage investor Exascale Fund, climate investment non-profit Elemental Impact, and Hatch.
Pacific Biochar
Carbon offsetting platform Wren has invested $1 million in California-based biochar producer Pacific Biochar with the aim of scaling its CDR capacity four times over by 2026. The capital will be used to maintain existing facilities and bring additional plants online, according to the companies' statement.
"Pacific Biochar will use this investment to get facilities accredited and verified, pay facilities to convert biomass into biochar, and transport biochar to its destination," the companies said. The funding is Wren's first-ever equity investment in a "climate solution".
Capture6
California-based DAC firm Capture6 raised $27.5 million through Series A and project funding rounds, which will allow it to advance water recovery and carbon removals initiatives around the world. The funding round was led by private investment firm Tetrad Corporation, and joined by Hyundai Motor Group's Zero1NE Ventures, Energy Capital Ventures, Elemental Impact, Bridge Investment, Sopoong Ventures, Third Derivative, Stan and Jane Rodbell, and the Jacob S Shapiro Foundation.
Capture6's system transforms waste brine into a solvent that mineralises CO2 while recovering fresh water during the process.
Ucaneo
The corporate venturing arm of Saudi oil giant Aramco has invested in Germany-based DAC company Ucaneo to help the latter firm scale its technology. Aramco Ventures has provided an unspecified amount of seed funding for Berlin-headquartered Ucaneo to advance electrochemical DAC technology.
"The investment will accelerate Ucaneo's journey to scaling this ... technology, supporting their mission to deliver cost-effective CO2 removal solutions for industries worldwide," the company said.
Aramco's investment follows a seed funding round announced in September last year when Ucaneo raised €6.75 million ($7.36 million) from new investors, including unnamed "hardware and industrial energy" companies, Energie 360°'s Smart Energy Innovation Fund and IBB Ventures.
Previous investors include the Grantham Environmental Trust, Carbon Removal Partners, Nucleus Capital, Apprecia Capital, and notable angels including Flixfounders and Pjotr van Schothorst.
Mote
Biomass carbon capture and storage technology provider Mote has secured $7 million from the close of its first Series A funding round to advance its carbon negative biomass-to-energy technology. The investment is the US-based company's first step towards a targeted $15 million Series A funding round and was led by investors Nella Next and Preston-Werner Ventures. The funding will be used to advance development of its first commercial-scale facility in addition to expanding its engineering capacity and industry partnerships.
CarbonQuest
US-based carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology supplier CarbonQuest has raised $20 million in funding to cut the cost per tonne of carbon captured while hiring more talent. The investment in CarbonQuest was led by Houston-based investment firm Riverbend Energy Group, while it secured additional funding from Energy Capital Ventures and Aligned Climate Capital.
"This new funding will help CarbonQuest achieve the lowest $/ton in the carbon capture industry and improve system efficiency," the company said. The additional financing will allow the company to deploy its proprietary distributed carbon capture technology to customers in North America while hiring more talent.
Heirloom
United Airlines' sustainable fuel investment vehicle has invested in US DAC developer Heirloom, and secured the right to procure up to 500,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) of removal credits. The equity investment is the first initiative from United's Sustainable Flight Fund focused on supporting DAC technologies with the aim to "scale DAC as a critical tool to enable net zero aviation".
Qualterra
US agri-tech company Qualterra raised $4.5 million to expand into the carbon credits business. The company specialises in "rapid, molecular testing to screen for infections" in plants but also operates its own biochar pyrolysis plant, as well as a network of greenhouses to grow its own crops and where it uses the biochar.
Arca
Canadian company Arca secured $8 million in funding and announced an expansion of its business in Australia as well as further partnerships with nickel and gold miners in the country. Arca is one of a handful of companies, together with start-up Exterra Carbon and big mining firms, such as BHP, Nickel Creek Platinum Corp and Canada Nickel, that are studying the carbon removal potential of mine tailings.
The funding came from two Australian venture capital companies, Side Stage Ventures and Saniel Ventures.
CarbonZero.Eco
US venture capital-backed start-up CarbonZero. Eco raised $3.5 million in seed round investments from tech giants including Google, Meta and Amazon. The funding will support the development of the company's first biochar production site in Colusa County, California, which is expected to be operational this April.
Canada Nickel
Canadian mining firm Canada Nickel secured CAD3.4 million ($2.4 million) in federal funding for its project to use mine tailings to sequester carbon. Canada Nickel said the funding will support the development of its proprietary in-process tailings carbonation process, which transforms nickel mining tailings into a permanent carbon storage solution, at the pilot plant level.
Canada Nickel has filed a patent application for the process, which uses ultramafic tailings — the left-over waste materials from the processing of mined ore — as a geologically stable permanent CO2 storage solution.
BluSky Carbon
Canada-based biochar developer BluSky Carbon closed $500,000 in financing through a debt offering intended to fund business operations. BluSky has secured the funding through secured debentures — a debt instrument issued with collateral by a company to raise funds from investors — in addition to two other financing mechanisms.
The secured debentures were priced at $1,000 per debenture unit with gross proceeds up to $500,000. BluSky intends to secure a further $1.05 million through other financing vehicles. Overall, the financing will be used for working expenses, with BluSky expecting to produce its own biochar credits beginning in 2025.
ReCarber
Sweden-based CDR company ReCarber raised €5.1 million to help scale CDRs from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage that are aligned with the country's and global climate goals. The company's first funding round was led by Nordic venture capital firms Luminar Ventures, Spintop Ventures, and Course Corrected, ReCarber said in a social media post.
44.01
Oman-based 44.01, which develops projects that mineralise CO2 from the air using water and coarse-grained rock, has received $5 million in Series A funding from Norway- and Dubai-based investors to help the company launch projects in new countries.
44.01 said that it received the investment from Norwegian sovereign fund Nysno Climate Investments and Jasoor Ventures, a venture fund focussing on tech-based start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Terraform Industries
US-based carbon capture and power-to-gas company Terraform Industries has raised $26 million to complete the development and deployment of its first full-scale 1MW system that produces synthetic natural gas and captures CO2.
California-based Terraform said that when completed the Mark One Terraformer will be deployed at the company's unnamed desert test site. The company added that it has also bolstered its team with the addition of senior and electrical technicians, among others.
Others
Carbon Ex
Tokyo-based carbon credit trading platform Carbon Ex raised JPY 300 million in funding from existing shareholders, climate consultant Asuene and financial services firm SBI Holdings. Under the transaction, Asuene raised its stake to 51% in Carbon Ex, with the rest 49% held by SBI Holdings. Previously, both the investors held an equal 50% stake in the company.
Carbon Ex is now a consolidated subsidiary of Tokyo-based Asuene. The platform intends to use the funds for expanding its business and recruiting personnel both in Japan and overseas.
Hempalta
The shareholders of Canadian agri-tech company Hempalta have issued a CAD325,000 loan to the company to boost its shift towards carbon credit generation from hemp processing and product manufacture. The 12% interest loan was approved by TSX Venture Exchange on which Hempalta is listed and is secured against certain company assets.
"This loan provides additional working capital to support Hempalta's strategic focus on scaling its industrial hemp carbon credit platform through the Hemp Carbon Standard," it said.
The loan is repayable within one year, or when the company reaches CAD1 million in revenues, or following the successful sale of the company's hemp production facility and processing equipment, whichever comes first.
Ocell
German green-tech start-up Ocell raised €10 million to expand its European forestry software and analytics operations and support the development of forest management climate projects. The Series A funding round was led by Capnamic alongside Bayern Kapital and existing impact investors AENU and Summiteer.
The additional funds "will empower Ocell to scale its operations and accelerate the transformation of forests toward greater climate resilience", it said.
BeZero
UK-based carbon ratings agency BeZero completed a $32 million Series C funding round led by Singapore-based investment firm GenZero, followed by Japan Airlines and Translink Innovation Fund, as it seeks to expand its assessments portfolio.
Existing investors, such as EDF Pulse Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, Illuminate Financial, Intercontinental Exchange, Molten Ventures, Qima, and Quantum Innovation Fund have also joined the latest funding round.
The transaction values the company at over $200 million after taking into account the cash transferred into its accounts, or around $170 million before the raise, an industry source told Quantum.
Funds
Silva Capital
Australia's Silva Capital has so far raised more than AUD100 million under its carbon credit fund and has already deployed a large chunk of it in projects, it told Quantum. The Silva Carbon Origination Fund (SCOF) announced its first close in August last year, with three major Australian emitters — Rio Tinto and BHP as well as airline group Qantas — committing AUD80 million as foundation investors.
The company aims to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units through a native forestry method, called environmental plantings.
New Forests
Australia-based asset manager New Forests raised a total of AUD600 million for its forestry-focused fund, with investor participation from across Europe and Asia-Pacific. New investors include Finland-based Evli Fund Management, Japan-based Kyushu Electric Power and an unnamed German insurance company.
Some of the previous investors include Swedish pension fund Andra AP-fonden, German pension group Bayerische Versorgungskammer, and the Australian Government's Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
New Forests also announced it is collaborating with Japanese paper and pulp company Oji Holdings to establish a $300 million forestry fund. The Future Forest Innovations Fund will aim to acquire about 70,000 hectares of plantation forests, across greenfield and brownfield assets in Southeast Asia, North America, Latin America and Africa.
Tokyo-based Oji is already an investor in 635,000 hectares of plantation forests globally and will contribute 99% of the investment for the Singapore-registered fund, with the remaining 1% coming from New Forests.
Brazil cocoa fund
A new fund has been launched in Brazil to provide small farmers producing cocoa with access to cheap capital to implement sustainable techniques and increase their revenues by issuing carbon credits.
Brazilian financial institutions Violet, Tabôa Fortalecimento Comunitário and MOV Investimentos, as well as not-for-profit Instituto Arapyaú, joined efforts to launch the Kawá fund, which will fall under a special category in the country — Fiagro — for financial instruments focused on agriculture.
"The fund aims to reach up to BRL 1 billion [$174 million] in investments by 2030. The first phase will benefit 1,200 farmers in Bahia and Pará, with an initial investment of BRL 30 million," Instituto Arapyaú said.
Just Climate
UK-based climate investor Just Climate secured $175 million, primarily from US tech giant Microsoft and a US teachers' pension fund, to boost investment in nature-based solutions. Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) pension fund are the "anchor" investors in Just Climate's new natural climate solutions initiative.
"Through its investments, the strategy aims to deliver attractive returns and help transform land use to achieve global net-zero and nature positive goals," Just Climate said.
Nature Based Carbon Fund
An EU-backed guarantee programme for climate projects is supporting a $20 million investment by a German financial group in a fund aimed at generating carbon credits from nature-based products.
Impact asset manager EDFI Management Company (EDFI MC) is supporting a $20 million equity investment by Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft in the Nature Based Carbon Fund through its guarantee programme, Carbon Sinks. "EDFI MC is committed to scaling up investment in climate mitigation and adaptation," said chief executive Rodrigo Madrazo.
The Nature Based Carbon Fund, managed by Climate Asset Management, targets the generation of high-quality carbon credits from large-scale landscape restoration and conservation projects.
The EDFI Carbon Sinks programme is an initiative under the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus, launched by the EU and European Development Finance Institutions as part of the Global Gateway climate mitigation efforts.
SLM Partners
Natural asset management company SLM Partners launched a €200 million fund to invest in sustainable forestry and carbon in Europe. The UK-based company's new SLM Silva Fund II aims to build on the success of its earlier Irish forestry fund by continuing to invest in Ireland, while broadening its scope to the UK and selected EU countries.
"The fund will aggregate fragmented forest properties and implement CCF [continuous cover forestry] management to optimise financial returns and environmental outcomes," SLM said. "While most returns will come from timber, the fund will also seek to monetise the carbon and biodiversity benefits of this approach."
Mirova
France-based global asset manager Mirova unveiled the investors in a new blended finance fund, which is targeting raising €350 million by the end of the year to support investments in regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, and sustainable forestry in emerging markets.
The company said key supporters of the Mirova Sustainable Land Fund 2 (MSLF2) include public, private, and philanthropic investors, such as SDG Impact Finance Initiative, Abeille Assurances, Allianz France, and BNP Paribas Cardif, as well as FMO and Proparco, Dutch and French development finance institutions.
In addition, the Rainforest Alliance NGO will help to create a project pipeline and "support high-quality initiatives on the ground" as part of a strategic partnership with Mirova.
Foresight Natural Capital
UK fund Foresight Natural Capital (FNC) raised another £27 million ($34 million) from pension funds that will mostly be invested in afforestation projects, while biodiversity net gain, peatland restoration and regenerative agriculture projects will also be explored. UK-based East Riding and West Yorkshire pension funds doubled their backing of FNC, pushing the fund's total net asset value to £300 million.
Manulife
One of the world's biggest forest management firms announced the final close of a $480 million forest climate fund, which made carbon credits from greenhouse gas sequestration the main driver of potential value for investors, rather than timber.
Toronto-headquartered Manulife said the forests to be managed by the Manulife Forest Climate Fund (MFCF) aim to sequester over 6 million tCO2e over the fund term, with $480 million raised falling $20 million short of what had been initially targeted.
"The fund has already started to develop a diversified portfolio in support of its investment thesis. It has acquired more than 150,000 acres [61 hectares] and is approaching 50% deployment," the company said.
Clean Energy Finance Corporation
An Australian government-backed 'green' bank has pledged up to AUD200 million to an initiative in partnership with the Australia arm of Dutch bank Rabobank to cut the initial costs for projects that generate carbon credits from reforesting with native species.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation's (CEFC's) money will help eligible Rabobank clients to carry out so-called "Environmental Planting" projects under the Australian Carbon Credit Units scheme.
"The CEFC investment will support Rabobank in providing a discount of 1% on the Environmental Plantings Carbon Farming Loans, to help ease initial borrowing costs for eligible activities, including feasibility assessments and planting costs. Rabobank will contribute a further discount of up to 0.15% for these loans," CEFC said.
Soil Association Exchange
A fund to incentivise UK farmers to adopt sustainable practices and reduce their CO2 emissions was launched by the Soil Association Exchange on January 7. The association has already secured £1 million in funding for the new scheme, called the Exchange Market, which will focus on "insetting" without any carbon credits changing hands, the association said.
