Amsterdam-based Cawa, an API infrastructure for carbon accounting and ESG platforms, announced that it secured €500K in a fresh round of funding. The capital will support Cawa’s mission to facilitate the sale of transparent, high-quality carbon credits.
The round was led by Shamrock Ventures, with participation from Golden Egg Check Capital and seasoned angel investors.
Tommy Hurley, managing partner at Shamrock Ventures, says, “Cawa’s unique software and transparency are crucial to build trust in the carbon credit market. We are excited to support Cawa in their mission to help remove megatons of CO2 from the atmosphere.”
Helping companies take traceable climate action
Cawa’s arrival is timely for the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), which is crucial for meeting Paris Agreement goals through investments in projects like reforestation and carbon removal.
The VCM allows companies to buy carbon credits from project developers, securing funding for these initiatives. However, trust issues, highlighted by exposure to ineffective climate projects and misallocated funds, hinder companies from investing in the VCM.
To attract more companies to the VCM, Cawa addresses three key issues: market opacity, with up to 85 per cent of climate financing diverted to intermediaries; ineffective carbon credits that don’t guarantee CO2 removal; and difficulties companies face in communicating their climate contributions.
Founded in 2022 by Kees van Santen, Cawa is a software startup that offers companies access to traceable carbon credits.
Through its platform, Cawa provides API access to facilitate the integration of purchasing transparent, high-quality carbon credits for platforms and companies. This allows all stakeholders to monitor the financing and impact of their climate contributions transparently.
The API also enables linking each transaction to individual customers, employees, or other stakeholders, ensuring transparency and accountability regarding the environmental impact of these contributions.
Cawa’s APIs are already in use by platforms across the Netherlands, the UK, Denmark, and Spain.
Capital utilisation
Kees van Santen, co-founder of Cawa, says, “This funding round demonstrates investors’ belief in the necessity of a transparent voluntary carbon market with high-quality carbon credits.”
“The goal is to support as many good climate projects as possible by helping them secure funding. With this investment, we can assist more companies in responsibly purchasing carbon credits and developing climate projects.”
Brief about Shamrock Ventures
Shamrock Ventures is a €10M pre-seed and early-stage impact fund that invests in technology companies aiming to generate social and environmental impact.
The fund focuses on sectors such as the circular economy, cleantech, sustainable mobility, and food & agritech.
Shamrock Ventures supports founders by providing their initial professional capital and offering operational and technical expertise to help scale their ventures.
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