Sylvera, a UK-based startup that provides ratings for carbon offsets, has raised $32.6m (£24.1m) in a Series A funding round to accelerate and expand its service.
It brings Sylvera’s total funding raised to date to $39.5m (£29.2m). Founded in 2020, Sylvera provides data on nature-based offset projects. This covers data such as raw carbon performance, additionality, permanence, co-benefits, and risk.
The round was co-led by Index Ventures and Insight Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, LocalGlobe, along with angel investors.
Dr Allister Furey, co-founder, and CEO of Sylvera said: “The market is one of the world’s most powerful tools against climate change. But we need reliable data to determine the quality of carbon offsets, in order to incentivise people to invest in the projects that are actually doing good – and to reward the project developers doing good work. That’s why we’re building the most accurate ratings for the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM).”
The demand for carbon credits is growing exponentially and the market is expected to be worth $100bn by 2030.
The London-based startup uses proprietary data and machine learning to produce accessible insights and market intelligence on carbon projects, delivered through an online platform.
The company is also partnering with researchers at UCLA, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and University College London to expand its proprietary methods for evaluating carbon performance.
Unlike other players in the carbon offset marketplace, Sylvera does not sell carbon offsets. Sylvera says this makes its rating free from conflict of interests. The company’s ratings are available to its customers through a web application and via an API.
Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas, partner at Index Ventures and Sylvera board member said: “As an independent data provider, Sylvera has seen exponential growth in demand from some of the world’s largest companies, governments, and other entities. It highlights how critical their work is, and we’re excited to expand our partnership with Sylvera.”
In May last year, Sylvera picked up £5.5m in a funding round led by Index Ventures.
