CarbonFarm, a climate tech startup from Paris, announced that it has secured nearly $8 million (€7 million) in a Series A funding round. The funding will support the company’s operations focused on tackling methane emissions from rice farming.

The round was led by Colam Impact, the impact investment arm of Colam Entreprendre, which is the holding company for the French family-owned group Sonepar. 

Additionally, the round saw participation from Proparco, Suma Capital, elea, Working Capital Fund, Albo, and BPI France, as well as previous investors Serena & make sense (via Racine²) and Technmind. 

With this financial boost, CarbonFarm will expand its presence across Asia, Africa, and Europe, while accelerating its reach in Latin America.

The company currently operates in 19 countries across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, collaborating with major food and agribusiness partners such as Mars Food, Diageo, Ebro, and Tilda.

The company partners with rice producers, cooperatives, agribusinesses, NGOs, governments, and local project developers, promoting the adoption of improved water management practices that reduce emissions from rice production.

According to CarbonFarm, rice cultivation accounts for roughly 12% of global human-caused methane emissions, which puts this crop’s greenhouse-gas footprint right next to that of global aviation, while also consuming up to 28% of the world’s freshwater resources. 

The adoption of water management practices, such as allowing fields to drain periodically rather than remaining periodically flooded, enables rice producers to cut emissions by as much as 50%, CarbonFarm says, and reduce water use by up to 30%, without impacting yields.

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