Much of the world recognizes the importance of meeting net zero by 2050, but nearly all companies with net zero targets will fail to achieve their goals if they don’t at least double the pace of emissions reduction by 2030. It will take an estimated capital investment of $3.5 trillion annually over the next 30 years, from both the public and private sectors, into the technology and infrastructure required to deliver a zero-carbon economy. This will need to include both decarbonization efforts and investing in carbon credits to account for emissions that currently cannot be eliminated in full. At the moment, the pace of action and investment lags far behind what is required, and a lack of data has made it nearly impossible to measure and benchmark progress against net zero targets and the effectiveness of climate action investments.
Purchasing carbon credits, which fund projects around the world like protecting rainforests from deforestation or providing clean cooking stoves, is one of the most established and scalable ways to channel finance to effective climate outcomes. But, investors need robust, unconflicted information and accurate impact assessment of these carbon credits.
Founded in 2020 in the UK, Sylvera is a carbon data provider that makes it possible for companies and governments to invest in carbon credits and confidently report on their impact. Combining cutting-edge technology with leading carbon measurement methodologies, Sylvera provides ratings and data assessing climate action investments, including carbon credits, allowing organizations to confidently deliver their net zero strategy and work towards societal net zero.
Today Sylvera announced it has closed a €51 million Series B funding round to incentivize organizations to invest in real climate impact and grow its presence in the US. Balderton Capital led the round with participation from existing investors Index Ventures, Insight Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Speedinvest, Seedcamp, and LocalGlobe, and new investors Fidelity Strategic Ventures, Bain & Company, and 9Yards Capital.
“There is a serious lack of data to demonstrate progress against net zero targets and to prove that carbon emissions are actually being reduced or removed from the atmosphere. This uncertainty has created inaction, and Sylvera is changing that,” said Allister Furey, CEO and co-founder of Sylvera. “Our technology ensures funding is going to the projects, companies, and countries having maximum climate impact to get the world on track for net zero. In time, this data will create much-needed financial incentives, such as higher share prices and cheaper borrowing, for organizations taking serious net zero action.”
To help organizations ensure they’re making the most effective investments, Sylvera builds software to independently and accurately evaluate carbon projects that capture, remove, or avoid emissions. Sylvera develops and tests rigorous, holistic methodologies to rate projects and produce data, leveraging the latest technology and climate science. The new funding will enable Sylvera to further build its platform to include new data and information about carbon credits and how that sheds light on companies’ plans and genuine progress against their net zero targets. It will also support the company as it scales its technical capabilities and grows the engineering and product teams.
Daniel Waterhouse, Partner, Balderton Capital, said, “There is an urgent need to provide the most accurate and transparent views on the multitude of carbon projects around the world in order for corporations, governments and markets to trust in the carbon credits they are buying and effectively scale their climate contributions and head towards net zero. Sylvera has proven to be the market leader in this emerging field and we are excited to be joining them on the next phase of the journey and their work in accelerating the roll-out of data, tools and software in order to steer a path to reducing damaging climate change.”
This news comes as Sylvera expands to the US and opens a local office in New York. A global hub for financial markets, a presence in New York will allow Sylvera to entrench into the financial services infrastructure and grow its industry relationships. Currently, the company has twelve US employees with plans to double the team by year-end.
Erik Mostenicky, Principal at Fidelity International Strategic Ventures said, “We are excited to invest in Sylvera and contribute to the next stage of their growth by exploring asset management use cases. The company’s trusted and unbiased data solves a critical need for asset managers by helping them to better evaluate net zero plans of investee companies across the globe. Sylvera’s unique data platform also enables the creation of new sustainable investment products and educates investors about the quality of carbon offsets. The institutionalization of carbon markets is necessary to help corporates and investors achieve their net zero targets and we believe Sylvera will be a key driver in facilitating this.”
Since January 2022 the company saw sevenfold growth in its customer base, signing on clients ranging from major financial services institutions and infrastructure providers to sovereign governments. Recently, the company added a Chief Technical Officer to its leadership team, Serge Kruppa, who led engineering functions within strategic business units at Checkout.com and Twilio.
