CEFC Increases Investment in Soil Sequestration Technology Firm Loam Bio
The Australian government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has invested A$9 million into innovative Australian biotechnology company Loam Bio’s successful A$105 million Series B funding round.
This most recent investment brings the total CEFC commitment in the company to A$15 million.
Aussie startup, Loam, is launching into the Australian market after years of product development and its latest A$105m Series B funding round.
The firm is set to transform CO2 removal with its microbial technology for cropping systems, and has officially launched their CarbonBuilder seed inoculum and SecondCrop carbon projects in the Australian market.
“Loam’s microbial technology enables greater volumes of carbon to be stored in soils for longer periods of time,” says Loam Co-founder and CEO, Guy Hudson.
“Increasing the quantity and quality of carbon units farmers can produce per hectare, makes participating in carbon projects more economically valuable for farming enterprises.”
“This year we’re moving from pre-commercial to commercial and launching our products in Australia, working with a limited number of farmers to help them gain value from our products and services.”
“We're also moving towards commercialisation in the US, which will come in 2024, followed by our expansion into Brazil to help farmers globally access value from carbon markets.”
Loam’s Series B was co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Wollemi Capital with participation from Horizons Ventures, Acre Venture partners, Main Sequence, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Grok Ventures and others - bringing Loam’s total funding to A$150m.
According to Paul Hunyor, Co-founder of Wollemi Capital, “Soil carbon capture is both a climate imperative as well as a huge financial opportunity for both farmers and investors.
It has long been thought that there was little to no chance of building soil carbon in cropping soils, making the prospect of entering a carbon project unprofitable for farmers. Loam’s CarbonBuilder seed inoculum claims to change this, by working at the root system of crops, to enhance the plants natural ability to store carbon stably in the soil.
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