Contxto – Not too long ago, global headlines grieved the burning of the Amazon rain forest. A few months later and in one part of the globe, bushfires rage on. And it’s been reported that over two million acres have been consumed by flames in Australia.
Meanwhile, miles and miles away, in Silicon Valley, there are those who are rising to the occasion to expunge the harm climate change is undeniably bringing about. Such is the case of Argentinean-founded Pachama, a startup that’s raised US$4.1 million to support sustainability efforts.
Saltwater Capital, Lowercase Capital, Social+Capital, Atomico, and Global Founders Capital participated in the round.
Pachama will be using these funds to develop a carbon offset marketplace (we’ll get to what that is in a sec).
Reforestation through carbon markets
In Argentina, Pachamama is the goddess of earth and fertility. And she’s also the inspiration behind Pachama’s name. Diego Saez-Gil’s founded this startup in 2018.
And Pachama has a serious arsenal of tech to support forests.
Satellite imaging, machine learning, and drones are at its disposal. And when it teams up with businesses and project developers engaged in reforestation initiatives, automation and a greater understanding of its impact become measurable.
Thanks to the drones and satellites, images of an area that’s being reforested are created. Pachama’s algorithm then analyzes the image to make an estimate of how much carbon the trees in that area have been absorbed.
Companies that partner up with Pachama also have access to a dashboard to see how progress is going.
Sustainability, transparency, and accountability—all rolled into one.
What does a carbon offset marketplace have to do with this? Read on.
An unexpected eco-asset
Economic efforts are being made to slow down the destructive path of global warming. And one such form they’ve taken is the trade of carbon offsets. Firms finance offsets which are projects to cut down greenhouse gas emissions.
Meaning they reduce their carbon footprint through offsets rather than directly through their own business.
What Pachama plans to do with its investment is tocreate a marketplace where businesses can gather to find and partake in offset projects. This indirectly benefits it (and the environment) because it encourages more participation in offset markets.
From there, Pachama can connect with interested companies to provide its tech services.
-ML
