weekly startup spotlight

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, and always up to something in social good x tech.

this publication is a place for me to reflect on productivity, health and tech, and drop unique opportunities in the space right to your inbox daily. if you’re new here, sign up to tune in!💌

scroll to the end for my daily roundup on unique opportunities!

onto today’s topic: chestnut carbon 🌳 

many large corporations have sustainability goals to meet and must find ways to offset their carbon emissions. interestingly enough, i recently discovered a startup capitalizing on that need: chestnut carbon, a b2b nature-based carbon removal startup that restores degraded american land into biodiverse forests, generating verified carbon credits for corporations like microsoft (source).

in very simple terms, the company converts unused land into biodiverse forest ecosystems which mitigate carbon dioxide, and generates carbon removal credits which corporations buy to make up for their their own emissions. 🏭️ 

the profit model doesn’t seem obvious at first, but it’s a unique trade system where a large corporation essentially purchases another company’s credit in executing initiatives that reduce carbon, such as forest restoration. chestnut carbon makes money by selling that credit.

let’s talk numbers! 🤓 

the forestry and land-use carbon credit market, which aligns closely with chestnut carbon’s focus on afforestation projects, was valued at $9.67 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach around $20 billion by 2032, with a cagr of 8.41% (source).

founded in 2022, the startup has raised $200 million in funding, including a $160 million series b round this month (source). to date, chestnut has acquired 35,000+ acres of land across six states for afforestation, aiming to restore 500,000 acres by 2030 and remove 100 million tons of carbon (source).

questions i’d be interested to ask:

• does your partnership with microsoft drive the bulk of your revenue? if yes, what is the growth strategy in expansion to other large corporations?

• how do you navigate conversation with the government in acquiring large areas of degraded land?

daily opportunity + resource drops 🔍️