#101 | How to finance forestry projects at scale

Understory newsletter on climate and sustainability tech

Apr 4

Happy Monday! This week we dig into global reforestation and the amount of funding needed to scale forestry projects. For startups - check out all the accelerator program applications in our ‘Startup Resources’ section. We are increasingly seeing more resources for startups in the climate and sustainability tech sector. Understory is also scaling our community benefits including two opportunities below:

Understory x gener8tor: Startups Driving Sustainability Showcase

Join us for a special edition of our Showcase Event on Tuesday, April 26th. Understory is hosting the five startups participating in gener8tor's inaugural sustainability accelerator program: itselectric, blip energy, SolarSteam, Carbon Yield, and Mycocycle.

RSVP Here

The Understory Investor Community

We have launched a new curated community to scale connections between climate tech startups and accredited investors.

Are you a climate or sustainability tech startup that is currently fundraising? Let us know here!
Are you an accredited investor who wants to connect with fundraising startups? Let us know here!

📚 Worth Reading

How to finance forestry projects at scale: Terraformation and Bankers without Boundaries published a new report detailing the need for capital for forestation projects and a plan for how to unlock new sources of funding.

“One of the biggest barriers to achieving global-scale forest restoration is a structural issue: the largest financial investors are unable to deploy capital into brand-new forestry projects at scale. Our report estimates global reforestation will cost US$2.6 trillion. That’s based on the IPCC estimate of 2.3 billion acres available for reforestation. Assuming an average project size of 1,000 acres, the world will need to start over two million new forestry projects before the end of the decade to meet the IPCC goal. Following this report, Terraformation and Bankers without Boundaries are launching a $100 million sustainable forestry fund to raise capital for regenerative and biodiverse forestry projects.”

Read the full report here.

🚀 Funding and Congrats!

Evok Innovations announced the close of a $300 million cleantech fund to be invested across North America.
Regeneration.VC closed a $45 million climate fund that will focus on circular economy tech. Leonardo DiCaprio joined as a LP and strategic advisor.
Deepki, a saas-based ESG platform for the real estate industry, raised a $166 million Series C funding round.
Kayrros, a climate and energy data analytics company, raised €40 million.
Online marketplace for secondhand furniture Kaiyo raised a $36 million series B financing.
David Energy raised a $20.5 million Series A. The company buys and delivers power to customers more efficiently, reducing emissions, and saving money.
Sourceful, a sustainable shipping marketplace, raised a $20 million Series A round from Index Ventures, Coatue, and Eka Ventures.
Shopify announced $13.5 million in funding for new carbon-removal projects including Noya, DroneSeed, Sustaera, Carbin Minerals, CarbonBuilt, Loam, 44.01, Twelve and Remora.
Emitwise, a London-based carbon accounting software platform, closed a $10 million round.
Renewable energy marketplace RenewaFi raised $3 million in seed funding.
By Rotation, a peer-to-peer fashion rental platform, has raised $3 million in seed funding.

If you have funding or other news to share, email us at hello@theunderstory.io.

💡 Startup Spotlight

Sway - uses seaweed to create compostable replacements for single-use packaging.

🌱 Startup Resources

Call for volunteers at the Atlanta Green Business Fair, taking place at Ponce City Market on Saturday 4/23 as part of the Earth Day celebrations.
The USDA is accepting applications for the new Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities which will fund $1 billion in climate-smart practices in U.S. agricultural and forestry products.
Elemental Excelerator: Applications due April 8th.
Create ATL’s The Collective Impact Accelerator Program: Applications due April 10th. Program lasts 2 years.
ERA Summer 2022 Accelerator Program: Applications due April 25th. 4-month program starts mid-June.
100+ Accelerator, led by AB InBev: Applications due April 30th. Program lasts 1 year starting in June.

👀 Quick Hits

The International Sustainability Standards Board issued an initial set of proposals: one regarding general sustainability-related disclosure requirements and the other specifies climate-related disclosure requirements.
Nasdaq launches new indices that track the price of removing carbon from the atmosphere.
A new job title is gaining in popularity: Director of Biomimicry.
Bitcoin can reduce its carbon footprint if it switches to ‘proof of stake’.
Over 50% of U.S. rivers and streams are impaired, meaning they are no safe for fishing, swimming, and drinking.

🎧 Podcast

Stefan Gönner of Seqana: sequestering soil organic carbon

Shuchi Nijhawan of Eka Software Solutions: carbon accounting to reach net zero

Jason Nachamie of Rho Impact: the art and science of ESG impact tracking

The Understory Podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Google Podcasts.

⚙️ Jobs

Find and share your open positions on the Understory Slack channel.

🆕 Director of Global Sustainability at Faherty Brand
🆕 Senior ESG Analyst at RBC
🆕 Sustainable Procurement Manager at MGM Resorts International
🆕 Senior Consultant, Sustainability Consulting at ELEVATE Global
🆕 Public Affairs Specialist, Circular Economy at NatureWorks
🆕 Director/Vice President, Decarbonization Partners, Investments at BlackRock
General Manager of Supply at Cloverly
Head of Marketing at Nth Cycle
Director of People at Nth Cycle
Multiple Roles at Goodr
Business Development & Strategy Lead at Sway
Fellow, Climate Solutions at Emory University
Sustainability Engagement Lead at Twitter
Circular Economy Portfolio Leader at Owens Corning
Director at Georgia Social Impact Collaborative
Solutions Engineer at Clarity AI
Manager, Global Communications at Interface
Key Account Director at Interface
Director of Sales at WasteWizer
State Climate Policy Network Intern at Climate XChange
Principal, Circular Economy at Amazon

🗓 Events

April 23: Atlanta Green Market Fair
April 26: Understory x gener8tor: Startups Driving Sustainability Showcase
May 17-19: Circularity 22 Conference
May 24: Understory’s Startups Driving Sustainability - May Showcase

Do you have any events to share? Post them in our Understory Slack community.

📧 Stay in Touch!

You don’t have to wait for our weekly newsletter for all the latest content. Join us on Slack or follow along on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter to see real-time updates.

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