BTG Pactual‘s Timberland Investment Group has sold 1.3 million carbon removal credits to be derived from its Latin American reforestation and restoration strategy to technology Meta for an undisclosed per unit price.
The agreement includes an option to purchase, with options for delivery through 2038, an additional 2.6 million carbon credits derived from land managed by the reforestation strategy.
The Reforestation Fund is targeting $1 billion to support projects that include protection and restoration of approximately 135,000ha of previously deforested and degraded land in Uruguay, Chile and Brazil.
In June, BTG sold eight million carbon credits from the same vehicle for delivery through 2043 to Microsoft for an undisclosed price in what it called then the “largest-known carbon dioxide removal credit transaction to date.”
Leaps by Bayer releases Ag Playbook for start-ups
Leaps by Bayer has published a playbook intended to act as a roadmap for developing new agricultural products.
The Ag Playbook seeks to address what it labels a mismatch of understanding throughout the industry that often fails to appreciate differences between ag-related technology and more established timelines associated with pharmaceutical drugs. The authors write they seek to provide a “shared nomenclature” that defines stages of development across key product classes.
The 60-page report focuses on small molecule crop protection products and references potential future deep dives on markets including biologicials, digital ag offerings and animal ag products. It describes five primary differences between agtech and pharmaceutical product development, as well as six phases of development typical to startups in the sector.
Leaps by Bayer estimates that agtech products typically take between four and 13 years to develop at an average cost of between $50 million and $400 million, and still face high barriers to widespread adoption.
Read the full report here.
People
Climate Asset Management appoints Andrew Dyson as chair
Climate Asset Management has appointed Andrew Dyson to the role of non-executive chair.
Dyson will take up his new role immediately and step down from his position as a senior adviser to climate investment and advisory firm Pollination.
Pollination, alongside HSBC Asset Management, founded Climate Asset Management as a joint venture in 2020.
Prior to these roles, Dyson was formerly the chairman and chief executive of PGIM Quantitative Solutions from 2017 to 2022.
Read the full story here.
Manna Tree makes host of appointments
US-based private equity firm Manna Tree has made a string of senior promotions as it expands its investment and investor relations team.
Tyler Mayoras has become managing director, food and beverage sector, having previously been with Manna Tree since 2023 as director of portfolio growth. Since joining the firm, Mayors has led growth strategies across its portfolio and serves on the board of portfolio companies Health-Ade, Urban Remedy and The New Primal.
His new role will see him take responsibility for Manna Tree’s food and beverage investments, including sourcing new opportunities.
Ryan Klas has stepped up from his previous role as vice-president of investments to become director, investment, while Allison Yazel has moved up from marketing manager to become vice president, marketing.
In addition, Manna Tree announced two additions to its team: Ali McNutt has joined as a senior associate in its investment team from Boston Consulting Group, and Lauren Russell joined as an associate on the investor relations team from P10 Holdings.
Read the full story here.
VC fundraising
Plant-Ex Ingredients, a British producer of natural plant-derived flavours, colours and extracts secured a £9 million ($12 million; €10.7 million) in funding from Growth Funding for Ambitious Businesses.
Reduced, a Danish start-up that develops upcycled food ingredients for retailers and food producers, held an €8 million Series A funding round that was backed by the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund, among others.
Ocean Rainforest, a Faroe Islands-based sustainable grower and processor of seaweed, raised a €2.5 million funding round backed by Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund, Grantham Foundation, Builders Vision, Katapult Ocean, Twynam and WWF, among others.
Number 8 Bio, an Australian agtech company developing ways to reduce methane emissions from livestock, raised a A$7 million ($4.8 million; €4.3 million) seed funding round led by CSIRO-backed Main Sequence, with support from Breakthrough Victoria, among others.
Datassential, a New York-based provider of a food and beverage intelligence platform, received an investment of undisclosed size from backers including New Mountain Capital and Endicott Capital, among others.
Zevero, a London, Singapore and Tokyo-based carbon accounting platform, raised $7 million in a seed funding round led by Spiral Capital, with participation from East Ventures, among others.
Pairwise, a North Carolina-based company specializing in gene editing to improve plant breeding, raised a $40 million Series C funding round led by Deerfield Management, with participation from Aliment Capital and Leaps by Bayer.
CarbonEthics, a Jakarta-based provider of technology-enabled natural climate solutions, raised a $2.1 million seed funding round led by Intudo Ventures.
Also in the news…
Fulcrum Asset Management selects Domain Timber Advisors to LTAF panel
Domain Timber Advisors has been selected as a global leader in value-add timber investing (Fulcrum).
Eiffel closes impact-through-ESG debt fund on €777m
Eiffel Impact Debt II uses ESG levers to encourage sustainability improvements and is one of the largest-ever ‘impact’ debt funds; strategy head Antoine Maspétiol tells NPM how Eiffel navigated the ‘tough’ fundraising environment (NPM).
One Rock Capital Partners to acquire Europe Snacks
Europe Snacks provides stacked chips, snacks, crisps and crackers to major food retailers throughout Europe (One Rock).
Australian table grape exports decline as Chinese demand wanes
Rabobank says Australian exports of table grapes were down 19 per cent for the 2024 season (Rabobank).
Farmer co-op shops A$51m raising to energy players
A farmer-led co-operative in Australia is seeking capital to fund a series of regenerative agriculture projects (Australian Financial Review).
New York sues JBS over climate claims
New York attorney general Letitia James launched a case against JBS accusing it of making misleading statements about its efforts to reduce carbon emissions (New York Times).
Barley suffers as hard seltzer grows in popularity
As overall beer consumption slumps to its lowest level in the US since the 1970s, barley growers face challenges (Reuters).
