CarbonFarm raises $7.8M to expand rice decarbonization platform

CarbonFarm closed an oversubscribed $7.8 million Series A to grow its digital measurement and project development work for rice methane reduction. The New York-based climate tech company plans to deepen its reach across Asia, Africa and Europe while expanding into Latin America.

Why it matters: - Rice farming is a major source of methane, and CarbonFarm is positioning itself to turn that emissions problem into measurable climate projects at scale. - The company says stronger measurement and verification can help carbon buyers, corporate supply chains and farmers trust the results. - The new capital supports a growing market for high-integrity rice credits and methane reduction.

What happened: - CarbonFarm closed an oversubscribed $7.8 million Series A round on Tuesday. - Colam Impact led the round. - Proparco, Suma Capital, elea, Working Capital Fund, Albo and Bpifrance also participated. - Existing investors Serena and Techmind renewed their support. - CarbonFarm is a rice decarbonization specialist that provides digital measurement, reporting and verification, or MRV, and develops projects across rice supply chains.

The details: - CarbonFarm will use the funding to expand the technology and expertise needed to develop, finance and measure rice projects worldwide. - Rice feeds half the world’s population but produces about 12% of global human-caused methane. - Rice farming uses as much as 28% of the world’s freshwater resources. - Better water management, including periodic drainage instead of continuous flooding, can cut emissions by up to 50% and water use by up to 30% without reducing yields. - Those practices can also improve resilience to droughts, floods and extreme weather. - Rice credits are now compatible with most regulated carbon markets. - Corporate buyers are prioritizing methane reduction, and rice carbon deals announced by Amazon and Google have added momentum. - Most rice is grown by smallholders on plots of about 1 hectare, making scale dependent on changing practices across tens of thousands of farms. - CarbonFarm works with rice producers, cooperatives, agribusinesses, nongovernmental organizations, governments and local project developers. - CarbonFarm adds rice project development expertise, digital MRV, access to climate finance and connections to carbon buyers and corporate supply chains. - The company uses AI-powered satellite imagery analysis, field data collection tools and greenhouse gas modeling to track farming practices and quantify emissions at field level. - CarbonFarm also supports partners from project design and financing through certification and buyer identification. - Since its previous funding round, CarbonFarm has expanded to 19 countries. - CarbonFarm works with Mars Food, Diageo, Ebro, Tilda and BASF Agricultural Solutions. - CarbonFarm also works with Livelihoods Funds and myclimate, plus the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, SNV, Helvetas and Action Against Hunger. - Google is among the company’s technology-company partners.

Between the lines: - CarbonFarm is betting that the hardest part of rice decarbonization is not the technology alone, but aligning trusted local partners, finance and verifiable data. - The round brings together impact investors and a development finance institution, which signals interest in projects that can deliver both climate and rural development outcomes. - The company’s emphasis on field-level evidence reflects rising scrutiny around carbon credits and corporate Scope 3 claims. - CarbonFarm says scale will come from equipping local value-chain players rather than replacing them.

What's next: - CarbonFarm plans to deepen its presence across Asia, Africa and Europe. - The company also plans to accelerate expansion into Latin America. - Proparco’s participation reflects growing development-finance interest in rice decarbonization. - CarbonFarm aims to become the preferred partner for organizations that want to develop projects, deploy climate finance or measure impact credibly.

The bottom line: - CarbonFarm is raising capital at the intersection of methane reduction, climate finance and agricultural data, with rice emerging as a high-potential test case for scalable decarbonization.