Indonesia-based carbon technology platform Fairatmos has raised $4.5 million in a seed round led by Go Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Gojek; and Kreasi Terbarukan TBS, a unit of IDX-listed energy company Toba Bara Sejahtera.
The round also saw participation from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India and prominent angel investors, according to a statement on Monday.
Fairatmos plans to use the new funds to explore digital innovations in the carbon market, reach out to more communities and project developers, and grow the team across multiple functions.
Natalia Rialucky, founder and CEO of Fairatmos, said 702 companies globally, including in Indonesia, have pledged their target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2030. One way for companies to meet their targets is to counterbalance their emission via carbon credits.
“Developing high-quality, scalable carbon sequestration projects is not an easy task. Despite the abundant potential for Indonesia to become the carbon sink of the world, historically there have been few projects in Indonesia, as there are many technical barriers and upfront costs that make it challenging for communities and organisations to participate,” she said in the statement.
Fairatmos is building a solution to help communities, asset owners, and project developers to design and verify carbon projects while it also provides technical guidance and free digital pre-feasibility studies. In the future, Fairatmos plans to connect developers with companies and individuals seeking to counterbalance their carbon emissions as part of their net-zero goals.
In less than one year of operations, Fairatmos has worked with over 40 project developers across several carbon sequestration projects in mangroves, forests, and agriculture. “With over 126 million hectares of forest cover, Indonesia is globally known as the ‘world’s lungs’. There is a huge carbon market potential in Indonesia, with $565 billion worth of carbon economic value,” said Aditya Kamath, Partner at Go-Ventures.
Carbon technology startups have gained a lot of interest from venture capitalists and other external investors in the region. Besides Fairatmos, Singapore-based carbon trading exchange and clearing house AirCarbon Exchange is looking to raise $50 million in its upcoming Series B round. The round had already piqued the interest of 17 parties, including banks, financial institutions, and traditional energy players, said AirCarbon’s co-founder and chief emissions officer Thomas McMahon told DealStreetAsia.
DealStreetAsia also reported earlier that Indonesian state-owned firm Pertamina’s new renewable energy subsidiary, Pertamina NRE, will be investing $500 million in an energy fund set up in collaboration with state-owned Telkom Indonesia’s venture capital arm, MDI Ventures.
Aldi Adrian Hartanto, Vice-President of Investments at MDI Ventures, had said the VC firm will start scouting for potential startups to invest from the new energy fund. The fund will also look to invest in climate-tech startups, including carbon technology startups which are in demand right now.