Carbon removal startup Nori raises $6.25M from Toyota and others; names new CEO

by Lisa Stiffler on June 6, 2023 at 11:29 amJune 6, 2023 at 11:29 am

Sustainability: News covering the rapidly growing climate tech sector, funding in the space and other areas of innovation to protect our planet. SEE MORE

New cash: Carbon removal startup Nori announced $6.25 million in new funding. Current investors M13, Toyota Ventures, Placeholder and Cargill led the round. The Seattle company has raised a total of $17.25 million.

New leadership: Nori also shared news that Matt Trudeau, a digital markets, exchanges and cryptocurrency veteran, is now CEO. Former CEO and co-founder Paul Gambill shifted to the role of chief product officer.

Removing carbon: Nori uses the blockchain to sell carbon credits provided by farmers employing sustainable practices that capture and hold carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere. The credits, which are issued as Nori Carbon Removal Tonnes (NRTs), are available to individuals and businesses. In March, the company migrated its operations from Etherium to the Polygon blockchain platform.

Future plans: Last year Nori announced a partnership with Bayer, a global leader in agriculture, which is providing "hundreds of thousands of verified carbon removal offsets" to the Nori platform. Nori reports that demand for offsets has outstripped the supply side from farmers.

The big picture: International scientists advise that carbon removal will need to play a significant role in addressing climate change. That includes nature-based solutions such as Nori's and efforts to mechanically pull carbon from the air. The carbon offset market is estimated to currently be worth about $2 billion, and is projected to balloon in value.

Nori's customers have helped remove 125,000 tonnes of carbon, funneling $2 million to farmers, according to the company website.

More background: Gambill launched Nori in 2017 and the company is a Techstars Sustainability Accelerator graduate.

In April, the startup cut 10 employees, or 37% of headcount, leaving it with 17 employees. The layoffs were necessitated by tighter market conditions, Gambill said at the time.

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