BeZero Carbon, a London-based business specializing in carbon credit ratings, said that it has raised $50 million in a Series B fundraising round. The revenues will be used to extend BeZero Carbon's activities to bring transparency in environmental markets.
The transaction represents the largest capital raise in the UK this year and takes BeZero Carbon's total cash raised in the past year to over $70 million.
The deal comes at a time when demand for carbon offset projects, which counteract the release of greenhouse gases, and related credits is expected to increase significantly over the next several years. Companies and businesses are increasingly turning to offsets as a bridge to their own absolute emissions reduction efforts, or to compensate for emissions that are difficult to avoid.
However, the market for carbon credits has obstacles such as a lack of liquidity and insufficient or inconsistent data to evaluate the efficacy of the initiatives.
The CEO and co-founder of BeZero Carbon, Tommy Ricketts, stated:
"We have the opportunity of a lifetime to integrate environmental and ecological restoration into the core of the economic paradigm. Effective ecosystem markets, beginning with carbon, have enormous potential to hasten the Net Zero transition and generate economic prosperity. The development of the information infrastructure that enables these marketplaces to take off is crucial to their expansion. The increase will allow us to continue investing in our ratings, risk, and analytics capabilities in order to make this goal a reality.
BeZero, a rating agency for carbon markets founded in 2020, offers carbon ratings, research, and data products and is supported by a team of climate scientists, earth observation professionals, data scientists, and financial analysts.
The money, according to the company, will be used to drive innovation in environmental markets through the creation of ratings, risk, and analytics tools. This will allow BeZero to invest in the creation of risk-based products for other ecosystem markets and open offices in New York and Singapore. The company also plans to improve its earth observation skills, develop its own automation toolbox, and invest in human capital.
Sebastien Cross, BeZero Carbon's chief innovation officer and co-founder, stated:
"We are grateful to our investors, clients, and partners for recognizing that BeZero Carbon's staff and tools will revolutionize the Voluntary Carbon Market. We are ecstatic to continue our expansion with offices in the United States and Asia, providing world-class information and research that drives global environmental markets."
Quantum Energy Partners led the capital round, which also included strategic partners EDF Group Hitachi Ventures and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), as well as current investors Molten Ventures, Norrsken VC, Illuminate Financial, Pima, and Contrast Ventures.
Quantum Energy Partners Venture Partner Jeffrey Harris stated:
"With a projected value of $50 billion by 2030, the Voluntary Carbon Market will play a pivotal role in the transition to Net Zero. BeZero Carbon has created the largest rating agency on the market by assembling an extraordinary group of professionals that are leaders in their respective disciplines. We are thrilled to be assisting them with the next phase of their development in order to help build a new climate economy."
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