‍Freiburg, 17th August 2021 – As a marketplace and fully digitized platform for high-quality and trusted carbon removal credits, Carbonfuture offers companies and organizations worldwide a path to true net zero.  Impact investor Wi Venture and early-stage investor seed + speed Ventures (part of the Maschmeyer Group) participated in the seed investment round led by Übermorgen Ventures. The round was completed by existing investors as well as new committed, well-connected business angels. The freshly received capital will be used to enable climate impacts on an industrial scale and fulfill Carbonfuture’s goal of removing gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere. ‍

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‍Carbon removal you can trust

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In accordance with their mission statement “carbon removal you can trust”, the German start-up incorporates key values such as effectiveness and traceability into all its processes, thereby providing trustworthiness and credibility from the outset. By using only high-quality, long-term and science-based sink certificates, Carbonfuture enables the path to true net zero. For the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement to be met, the active removal of gigatons of CO2 is required by 2050 - in addition to emissions avoidance.

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For this reason, Carbonfuture has created a marketplace and platform for collecting, managing and trading carbon sink certificates. Founded in 2020 by Dr. Hannes Junginger, Dr. Matthias Ansorge, Andreas Hölzl and Hansjörg Lerchenmüller, the start-up enables companies and organizations to offset their emissions by purchasing their carbon sink certificates: One carbon future credit corresponds to one ton of CO2 being safely removed from the atmosphere for a minimum of 100 years.

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The founding team's combined expertise in the areas of finance and risk management, IT and product development, as well as management and entrepreneurship, form the ideal basis for turning Carbonfuture's vision into reality.

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"To achieve the ambitious climate targets that have been set, there is no way around carbon sinks. Without innovative solutions such as those offered by Carbonfuture, we will not achieve climate neutrality by any stretch of the imagination. "Code red for humanity" statements like the one issued in the latest IPCC report confirm: The time to act is now. We need direct and effective climate protection on an industrial scale. However, these solutions must be science-based and traceable. With our investment in Carbonfuture, we want to guarantee that such approaches can be successfully scaled up to achieve tangible and long-term climate impact.” Elena Walder-Schiavone, Managing Partner, Übermorgen Ventures

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For companies to be able to scale the still very young market for carbon removal sink certificates into the gigaton range, transparency and trust must be guaranteed. Carbonfuture ensures this promise is met by using independently verified standards and tamper-proof, digital tracking of credits through an innovative and low-energy blockchain. The use of this technology also counteracts the wide-spread problem of so-called “double-counting”.

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"False climate promises are dangerous," knows COO Andreas Hölzl, who worked as a manager at Apple before moving to Carbonfuture. "In the end, it's not just the individual company that suffers, but the entire market. It is important for us to be able to meet the high expectations of our partners and to stand for credibility in the entire segment.”

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Capital to flow into development, growth and gigatonne goals

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The Paris Agreement envisages climate neutrality by 2050. To achieve this, companies must make a significant contribution to global Net Zero ambitions. This is precisely where Carbonfuture's growth ambitions come in: being able to offer truly measurable climate impact, will mean scaling, scaling and more scaling.

The funds will be used to expand the team, bring more carbon removal suppliers (e.g., farmers and plant carbon producers) on board, and further expand leadership in digital sink platforms.

Dr. Hannes Junginger, CEO of Carbonfuture, appreciates the financial support:

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‍"In order to meet the increasing market demand, the support of renowned investors such as Übermorgen Ventures, Wi Venture or seed + speed Ventures is indispensable. For us, in addition to the opportunity of making a real climate impact, it also represents a real appreciation of our corporate strategy and business model. The road to Net-Zero will not be an easy one and can only be managed through cross-sector collaboration. Companies can offset their residual emissions with us; we offer financial revenues and incentives to suppliers of sinks as well as biochar producers to build and expand their climate protection activities. Together, we can set a standard for the entire evolving industry."