Patch raises $4.5 million for negative emissions platform, democratizing access to carbon removal options
Negative emissions platform allows businesses to calculate carbon output and purchase an array of carbon removal options from credible suppliers in quantities as small as one gram.
SAN FRANCISCO: Patch, a platform that integrates with businesses to mitigate their carbon footprint through carbon removal projects, has raised $4.5 million in seed funding. The investment was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with VersionOne, Pale Blue Dot, and Maple VC participating. Patch has raised $5.7M to-date.
Patch has developed a robust carbon removal platform that allows businesses to both calculate their carbon footprint and find corresponding carbon removal projects to address unavoidable carbon emissions. Using Patch, businesses can seamlessly purchase negative emissions from projects that specialize in concrete mineralization, direct air carbon capture, improved forest management, biochar, and more. Based on current client demand, Patch forecasts it will facilitate the removal of hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon from the atmosphere in the first half of 2021 alone.
Carbon removal processes have been around for some time, and there are a number of methods a company or individual can use to neutralize their carbon footprint. Even so, there has historically been no centralized place for comparing options for carbon removal. Beyond that, carbon negative practices can require a tremendous amount of capital and manual diligence to roll out: a traditional B2B procurement flow that includes sourcing, performing due diligence, negotiating terms, and payment in advance. Trustworthy and credible suppliers are difficult to find, and most high quality options for carbon removal require minimum order quantities. Patch makes it possible for companies to buy as little as a gram of carbon removal at a time, with a “pay-as-you-go” model that does not require a large output of money upfront nor minimum orders.
Patch’s API, which contains pre-written code that can integrate directly into a company’s own website, also makes it possible for businesses to integrate Patch’s varying carbon removal features directly into the user experience on their own business platforms. For instance, Patch’s API can track business flights of company employees, recommending and facilitating the purchase of carbon removal to the businesses that employ them. Patch’s algorithm takes into account length of trips and modes of travel or delivery (i.e. plane, car) to calculate the amount of carbon that needs to be neutralized. An integrator can then embed a pre-selected portfolio of projects as an option to remove that carbon, or allow their end users to browse the full menu of projects on the network and select their preferred project.
As of today, Patch has 11 carbon removal suppliers on their platform, with 10 more planned to onboard in Q1. Listing on Patch, suppliers can provide continuous distribution of their services, tapping into recurring orders via the companies that use the Patch API. Larger companies typically build portfolios of carbon removal rather than choose only one option; Patch provides the software to streamline portfolio creation. “Carbon removal credits can help to dramatically accelerate the deployment of technologies like CarbonCure’s, which are absolutely critical to helping us reach our global climate targets. Demand for high-quality, permanent credits is sky-rocketing, and listing credits on Patch will help us to attract a broader range of buyers,” said Jennifer Wagner, President of CarbonCure Technologies.
Major companies have launched sweeping carbon neutral and zero climate impact initiatives aimed at reducing or removing their carbon emissions. A July study revealed that 79% of consumers are changing their purchase preferences based on a company’s or product’s approach to social responsibility, inclusiveness, or environmental impact. Businesses are stepping up to meet these consumer demands, with an estimated 81% of companies more focused on sustainability now than they were three years ago. Investors, too, are increasingly scrutinizing the carbon footprints of the companies they are considering bringing into their portfolios. Last month, investor BlackRock called on companies “to disclose a plan for how their business model will be compatible with a net-zero economy.”
“It’s long been difficult for companies to find a way to easily integrate carbon removal into their sustainability practices,” said Zoran Kovačević, Director of Product and Sustainability Lead at TripActions. “Since Patch is embeddable within a product, it makes it simple for corporate customers to neutralize the carbon generated by their business travel.” Other companies that can be named today who are already using Patch include EQT, Bus.com, Equilibrium, Dynamhex, CarbonZero.
Co-founder and President of Patch Aaron Grunfeld notes, “Businesses need to focus on both rapidly decarbonizing their operations and compensating unavoidable emissions. We built Patch to be the most effective and responsible way to accomplish the latter, so that companies can put the majority of their internal efforts towards decarbonization.”
“An increasing number of businesses are taking leadership positions in an effort to reduce emissions to try to counteract global warming,” said Jeff Jordan, Managing Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “Patch makes it much easier for companies to add carbon removal to their core business processes, aggregating verified carbon-removal supply and offering turn-key access to it to companies through an easy-to-implement API.”
