Zurich-based Xilva, a global forest marketplace, announced on Wednesday that it has secured $1.8M (approximately €1.64M) in a pre-Seed round of funding to further develop technological solutions and scale marketing and operations.
The investment came from Brainforest, Bloomsbury Natural Capital, Insurtech.vc, and a group of international angel investors.
James Griffiths from Bloomsbury Natural Capital says, “By accelerating access to capital, Xilva will boost the rate at which forestry can sequester carbon and increase biodiversity.”
“Connecting capital to forests, faster!”
Founded in 2021 by experienced entrepreneurs and foresters Tim Duehrkoop and Lorenzo Garofano, Xilva evaluates forest projects to lower the risks associated with buying carbon credits and supporting environmental restoration projects.
Through its Xilva GRADE platform, the company carries out the due diligence process and offers businesses verified carbon credits as well as investment alternatives for their future requirements.
The firm has already onboarded Australian real estate company Goodman and Swiss watchmaker Mondaine to facilitate transactions worth over $1.9M for forestry projects in Asia and Latin America, and thereby contribute to the compensation of over 152,000 tonnes of CO2.
Xilva aims to prevent climate change while also maintaining biodiversity, assisting local populations, and allowing for the full spectrum of ecological services supplied by forests.
Tim Duehrkoop says, “On our platform, there is a curated portfolio of over 40 investable projects, and we plan to source and screen 100 more in the next three months. Forests can absorb carbon at a larger scale and lower cost than any human-made solution.”
“The main benefits for the companies getting carbon credits with the help of Xilva are confidence that they are buying trustworthy credits and transparency throughout the process,” adds Duehrkoop.
Afforestation is the answer!
Recent media investigations have placed doubt on the Voluntary Carbon Market, implying that a significant portion of carbon offsets are worthless.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said unequivocally in its August 2021 report that deforestation is a direct source of the rising presence of CO2 in the air during the last decade, a surge unparalleled in the preceding 2 million years.
According to Xilva, afforestation can help to mitigate the effects of climate change while simultaneously addressing other environmental challenges, including desertification and soil erosion.
The company mentions in a statement that Crowther Lab research shows one trillion new trees could absorb one-third of human CO2 emissions. In fact, an extra 25 per cent of forest might absorb 25 per cent of atmospheric carbon, impacting global warming significantly.
