Exclusive: Sequoia leads $1.2m raise in ex-Airbus exec’s greentech firm

Climate change may be the most pressing issue of our time. Humans emit 50 billion tonnes of carbon per year, far surpassing the 1 billion to 2 billion tonnes threshold required to keep the world from warming past 2°C.

Trillions of dollars need to be channeled into environmental initiatives, but funding remains scarce. Developed nations pledged to donate US$100 billion a year to offset carbon emissions, but this is a fraction of the cost required to meet climate change goals.

Climes was established to help solve this problem. The India-based climate tech startup offers a B2B2C platform that helps people directly offset their carbon footprint while making a purchase.

Climes co-founders Siddhanth Jayaram (left) and Sanjay Gupta / Photo credit: Climes

The company tells Tech in Asia that it raised US$1.2 million in its first round of funding led by Sequoia Capital India, with Kalaari Capital participating.

Other investors in this round include Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath, Terra.do chief business officer Anshuman Bapna, Avaana Capital founder Anjali Bansal, and Cube Wealth founder Satyen Kothari, among others.

After meeting through a climate change course on platform Terra.do, ex-Airbus executive Anirudh Gupta and Kalaari Capital alum Siddhanth Jayaram launched Climes last year.

Gupta tells Tech in Asia that they are trying to make climate action accessible and economically viable, creating something “small enough to do, but big enough to matter.”

Though there are other climate tech companies doing similar things – such as Patch, KlimaDAO, and Ecocart – these firms often cater to enterprises rather than direct consumers.

Saving the planet, one Clime at a time

Climes’ API can be integrated into any consumer brand platform for free. This means that firms have a free source of environmental, social, and governance metrics and can turn their operations greener instantly.

When consumers check out their order on a Climes-integrated website, they are shown the emissions they will generate from a purchase. They then have the option to buy “climes,” a currency created by the startup, and donate the tokens to a climate action firm of their choice from the platform. One clime is currently worth 1 rupee (US$0.013) to 2 rupees (US$0.025), depending on the rate agreed upon by the consumer brand partner.

Purchasing one clime token is equal to offsetting 1 kilogram of carbon dioxide, the company says. It adds that 225,000 climes have been purchased by 24,000 consumers to date, which equates to it neutralizing 225 tons of carbon dioxide.

Photo credit: Aleksandrs Muiznieks / Shutterstock

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