Based in Berlin, CEEZER is on a mission to provide corporations with enhanced access to the voluntary carbon market. The startup just secured €4.2 million to fuel its growth plan and help more companies drive forward net-zero ambitions.
Becoming carbon neutral is now the destination that companies around Europe are heading to. Compliance targets are pushing businesses and organizations to minimize or offset carbon emissions, with the aim of bringing Europe to a position of net-zero. It’s a business process that is fairly new, and fairly daunting, but it’s absolutely vital.
Berlin-based CEEZER has built an offering for corporates to integrate both carbon removal and avoidance credits in impact-optimized portfolios – essentially making it simple for organizations to access the carbon market.
New investment
Today, CEEZER has announced it has closed €4.2 million in a round led by Carbon Removal Partners with the participation of Norrsken VC and existing investor Picus Capital.
It comes after a seven-figure pre-seed raise in April of this year, showing confidence in CEEZER’s platform and unique offering. With the extension, two specialist investors in the climate and carbon removal field join CEEZER’s journey.
Founder and CEO Magnus Drewelies, said: “We are incredibly excited to partner with two of the most exciting investors in the climate space, alongside our existing investor Picus. We think this is a perfect set-up to further strengthen our ties in the still emerging climate tech ecosystem.”
Oliver Heinrich of Picus Capital: “We are excited to continue our journey to make the VCM more impactful with CEEZER. The team has gained significant traction in the past months and we cannot wait for the next chapter.”
Democratizing the carbon market
Founded in 2021, CEEZER’s platform provides organizations with access to and support for the complex voluntary carbon market. Companies can use the tool to partner with high-quality carbon projects guided by data to fuel their net-zero ambition with maximum impact.
Currently, companies face some challenges and uncertainties when it comes to external carbon removal and reduction. While purchasing negative emissions has become necessary for most companies to meet compliance targets, the selection and purchase of the right credits is still daunting.
There are issues like multiple standards running in parallel, unreliable information on credit quality, and a price range of approx €5-500 per ton all to overcome. As a result, many companies struggle to balance impact, budget and risk.
Traditionally, resellers have made use of the opacity in the market by adding significant arbitrage, making buyers pay high prices for low-quality credits. This comes with significant risks to users of credits that need to report their impact as much of the funds end in the middle.
CEEZER leverages over 1.5 million data points on the carbon market to guide buyers with the latest info on credit quality, availability, and prices. Therefore, it enables sellers to reach the right buyers without using resellers – to sell both existing credits and credits from projects that are still under development.
It means that sellers no longer waste time and money on bespoke contracts with corporates but can rely on a harmonized legal framework for all transactions. At the same time, buyers have easy access to a wide range of credits at primary market conditions, which ensures a better impact for every dollar spent in the carbon market. They can also report on their portfolio quality with confidence.
Tove Larsson, General Partner at Norrsken VC said: “We are very impressed with the CEEZER team and their approach to the voluntary carbon credits market. With a strong focus on the supply side of this equation, they have built a platform that helps project owners manage and scale their carbon-reducing solutions, thereby addressing one of the key bottlenecks in this industry.”
Plans to grow
Currently, CEEZER serves over 50 corporate customers, ranging from DAX30 to startups across Europe and the US. The Berlin-based startup is also working with project developers such as X-Prize winner Carbon Built. Daily available volumes exceed over 200k tons across all relevant credit categories.
With this new investment, CEEZER is planning to expand its impact and sourcing teams, with the aim of making removal technologies more accessible to corporate buyers. Further, it will continue to increase the product offering to support credit sellers and buyers to find long-term offtake agreements and better plan for a supply-constraint future.
Benjamin Schulz and Maximilian Zeller of Carbon Removal Partners: “While approaching the VCM in the most possible data-driven and holistic way, CEEZER provides the perfect tool for corporate carbon buyers to transparently move into high-impact compensation solutions. We are excited to partner with the team to make CDR better accessible and approachable for corporate clients.”
