BlueLayer has secured $10 million in funding to support carbon project developers worldwide in bringing high-quality carbon credits to market.
The end-to-end software platform, operating in stealth mode since late 2022, raised the funds through seed and pre-seed investment rounds. The seed round is led by Point Nine, a prominent European B2B software-focused VC firm.
With head office in Berlin and teams in London and Athens, BlueLayer aims to help carbon project developers manage their carbon credits at scale. The company will use the funds to expand its platform features to address the emerging and complex needs of developers.
Targeting Quality Carbon Credits at Scale
The pathway towards Net Zero begins with companies with Science Based Targets and commitments. And thus, addressing their value chain emissions through decarbonization efforts is crucial. This is where BlueLayer’s mission comes into play.
The European startup focuses on assisting developers involved in various carbon projects, such as reforestation, forest conservation, peatland restoration, direct air capture, and enhanced rock weathering.
The platform aims to facilitate the connection between corporate leaders committed to Science Based Targets and project developers working on the ground to remove or avoid carbon emissions.
Experts predict that carbon markets need to scale significantly, reaching at least 20% of current global emissions or around 10 gigatons by 2050, representing a 40x increase from their current size.
McKinsey & Company projected an increase in global demand for voluntary carbon credits of up to 100x compared to 2020 levels, as seen below. BlueLayer seeks to contribute to this expansion by supporting developers in scaling carbon projects beyond value chain mitigation efforts.
On the demand side, buyers are willing to pay a premium for high-quality carbon credits, supported by reliable data.
A report by Ecosystem Marketplace in December last year shows a revealing trend within the voluntary carbon market. It highlighted that despite their higher price, demand concentrates toward high-integrity and high-quality carbon credits. These credits often offer other benefits that go beyond curbing carbon emissions.
Transforming Carbon Project Development
To date, there are over 177 million carbon tonnes managed on BlueLayer’s platform.
The startup, co-founded by Vivian Bertseka, who has a decade-long background as a climate investor, has secured $10 million to address the challenges faced by carbon project developers. Highlighting the important role of their technology in raising quality of carbon credit market, Bertseka remarked that:
“BlueLayer empowers project developers to centralize and display data from different sources into one single set of information, which facilitates following well-established methodologies and understanding the requirements of rating agencies and standards…We also enable them to report and communicate their impact with ease, accuracy and detail.”
The team includes Alexander Argyros and Gerardo Bonilla who have experience in building global software businesses. They have identified the limitations project developers face in scaling high-quality projects due to inadequate resources and tools.
BlueLayer is engaging with over 200 carbon project developers and ecosystem players. The company discovered that despite increased attention and billions of dollars of funding, developers still struggle with hefty manual processes. They are also relying on outdated systems like spreadsheets.
According to an industry report, project developers may even lose $2.6 billion by 2030 due to verification delays. This can also cost the VCM 4.8 gigatons of carbon credits.
Recognizing such challenges, BlueLayer developed an all-in-one platform tailored to support developers across the entire project lifecycle. This includes the pre-feasibility stage, credit issuance, inventory tracking, and order management.
The platform caters to developers at all stages, while offering essential tools for project development, data management, and stakeholder communication.
BlueLayer’s enterprise-grade software aims to unlock growth, enhance transparency, and improve carbon project quality. Moreover, it provides immediate value to customers by optimizing revenues, reducing time to market, managing portfolio complexity, and improving data accessibility and auditability.
The company works with ecosystem leaders and seamlessly integrates with various third parties, including data providers and registries.
BlueLayer’s $10 million funding propels the European startup into the spotlight. With a mission to enhance carbon credit market quality, BlueLayer aims to revolutionize project development, contributing to the significant scaling of carbon markets predicted by experts.
