CarbonFarm, a company that helps reduce emissions from rice farming, has raised €7 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round. The company will use the funds to improve its technology and support more projects around the world.
The round was led by Colam Impact, with participation from Proparco, Suma Capital, elea, Working Capital Fund, Albo, and Bpifrance. Existing investors Serena and makesense, through Racine², and Techmind also joined the round.
CarbonFarm develops digital tools and provides project support to help the rice industry reduce greenhouse gas emissions, use water more efficiently, and access climate funding. Its services help rice producers and other industry partners adopt more sustainable farming practices and measure their environmental impact.
Rice farming is responsible for around 12% of human-caused methane emissions worldwide and uses up to 28% of the world’s freshwater resources. Methane is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, making rice cultivation an important area for reducing emissions.
Better water management can help reduce methane emissions from rice farming by up to 50% and cut water use by 30% without affecting crop yields. However, introducing these practices on a large scale is challenging because the industry includes thousands of small farms that need to coordinate their efforts.
CarbonFarm uses artificial intelligence (AI), satellite images, field data, and greenhouse gas models to track farming practices and measure emissions from individual fields. Its technology helps farmers and project developers understand the impact of their efforts and identify ways to make rice production more sustainable.
The company’s platform also helps businesses and project developers measure emissions, prepare reports, and collect the data needed for carbon credit certification. By making it easier to track environmental results, CarbonFarm aims to help more rice farmers adopt sustainable practices and support climate projects worldwide.
Vassily Carantino, co-founder and CEO of CarbonFarm, explained the company’s approach: “Scale will not come from replacing local value-chain players; it will come from equipping them. They understand the farming systems and have the relationships needed to make change happen. Our role is to help turn this local knowledge into programmes that can attract finance and stand up to scrutiny.”
Since its last funding round, CarbonFarm has expanded into 19 countries and built partnerships with organisations in food, agriculture, carbon finance, international development, and technology.
The company will use the new funding to strengthen its operations in Asia, Africa, and Europe, while expanding into Latin America. The investment will also help improve its technology and project development services, making it easier for partners to launch, fund, and track projects that reduce emissions from rice farming on a larger scale.
