Carbon Stack raises EUR 500,000 in latest seed funding round

18 August 2022

Hamburg-based founders combating greenhouse gases with remote sensing and blockchain

The Hamburg-based Carbon Stack has raised EUR 500,000 in its latest seed-funding round after the Swedish business angel, Per Liljenqvist, provided fresh capital in early August. Carbon Stack relies on transparent reforestation schemes to offset carbon emissions using blockchain technology, remote sensing, environmental modelling and artificial intelligence (AI). Around about 1,337 tonnes of CO2 are emitted, driven mostly by cities and businesses, into the atmosphere every second. Drastic cuts are needed to halt global warming by more than 1.5 degrees, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Blockchain technology to prevent greenwashing

"Without a greatly increased volume of offsets, we will have to have avoided all greenhouse emissions in seven years to reach the 1.5 degree target. We won't achieve that," said Julian Kakarott, CEO of Carbon Stack. The start-up promotes the avoidance and reduction of greenhouse gases in companies. Where CO2 is nevertheless produced, the founders offer reforestation schemes especially in forested areas.

Around 45,000 trees were planted in the Harz Mountains and North Rhine-Westphalia in spring 2022 alone. The start-up determines reforestation areas and CO2 sequestration using remote sensing, i.e. earth surface monitoring by satellite and environmental modelling. AI is used for in-depth analysis of the data. The blockchain technology, which is considered to be forgery-proof, documents the offsetting schemes thereby preventing greenwashing.

Seed financing to boost innovation

"We can scale compensation opportunities faster, document them more accurately and gain new customers by investing in our technology," said Kakarott. The start-up had earlier received a grant from the InnoRampUp scheme via the Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank (IFB).

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