Nori (company)
Nori Inc. was a technology company based in Seattle, Washington, that closed in 2024.[1] The company's main business is a carbon marketplace focused on soil-carbon sequestration and pays farmers who adopt regenerative agriculture practices which may contribute to carbon sequestration.[2][3][4][5]
History and funding
[edit]Nori was founded in 2017 by Paul Gambill.[6]
In 2018, Nori raised $145,548 on Republic's crowdfunding platform when its CEO, Gambill pitched Nori on an episode of Meet the Drapers, starring venture capitalist Tim Draper and his family.[7][8]
In 2020, Nori raised $4 million from several investors.[9]
In February, 2022 Nori raised $7 million in a Series A round led by M13 and Toyota Ventures.[6]
In April 2023, Nori laid off 10 employees due to "changing market conditions."[10] Several months later, the company hired Matt Trudeau as its new CEO and raised an additional $6.25 million in funding. Gambill then transitioned to the title of Chief Product Officer[11] and ended his tenure with the company in March 2024, although staying as a member of its board.[12]
Products and services
[edit]Nori has created a platform where carbon removal suppliers can get paid by carbon removal buyers.[13] Nori specifically focuses on the growth of financial incentives and the supply of carbon removal offsets, not reduction or avoidance offsets.[14]
Nori sells the Regenerative Tonne™ (formerly "Nori Carbon Removal Tonnes” or “NRTs”) on its trading platform to represent one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) that has been removed from the atmosphere into for a minimum of 10 years.[15] Nori's RTs are generated from agricultural projects that can store carbon dioxide in soil as of April 2021.[16] These soil projects are broadly called regenerative agriculture practices. Nori is developing a financial instrument to assist growers in enhancing carbon dioxide sequestration in their soils, with potential benefits including climate change mitigation, drought tolerance, reduced surface runoff pollution, and improved soil health.[17]
In December 2023, Nori launched the Net Zero Tonne™, a blended credit that mixes soil carbon sequestration with durable removal like direct air capture.[18]
Early adopters
[edit]In early 2020, Maryland farmer Trey Hill became the first seller in Nori's marketplace. He was paid over $115,000 for practices that, over the preceding few years, had sequestered over 8,000 tons of carbon in the soil. Buyers included Shopify Inc., Arizona State University, and individuals looking to remove carbon.[2]
In November 2020, Iowa farmer Kelly Garrett sold 5,000 carbon removals through Nori's carbon removal marketplace platform and Locus Agricultural Solutions. The buyer of the carbon credits was Shopify Inc, who used the carbon removal credits to help negate emissions from transporting goods sold on the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.[19][3]
References
[edit]- ^ Stiffler, Lisa (September 9, 2024). "Nori, a Seattle-based carbon removal marketplace that raised $17M, shuts down after 7 years". Geek Wire.
- ^ a b Popkin, Gabriel (Jan 22, 2021). "Planting crops — and carbon, too". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b Bunge, Jacob (Dec 23, 2020). "Agriculture Industry Bets on Carbon as a New Cash Crop". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Petrova, Magdalena (June 25, 2021). "These farming techniques can help trap carbon dioxide in the soil and make farmers an extra buck". CNBC.
- ^ Johnson and Kempe, Nathanael, Ysabelle (2021-07-07). "The US is about to go all-in on paying farmers and foresters to trap carbon". Grist. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Kamps, Haje Jan (2022-02-24). "Immune to irony, Nori puts a carbon market on the blockchain". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
- ^ "Nori is a marketplace for reversing climate change". Republic. Jan 1, 2019.
- ^ "Nori's pitch on Meet The Drapers". Youtube. Nov 28, 2018.
- ^ Shieber, Jonathan (Sep 24, 2020). "Nori is pitching carbon trading … on the blockchain!". Techcrunch.
- ^ Schlosser, Kurt (April 10, 2023). "Carbon removal startup Nori lays off 10 employees, citing market concerns". Geekwire.
- ^ Stiffler, Lisa (June 6, 2023). "Carbon removal startup Nori raises $6.25M from Toyota and others; names new CEO". Geekwire.
- ^ "Paul Gambill on LinkedIn: Today was my last day working full-time at Nori. A little over a year ago,… | 37 comments". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
- ^ Dorning, Mike (April 20, 2021). "The carbon market gold rush in American agriculture". Bloomberg.
- ^ Siegel, RP (Oct 22, 2019). "Can this company build a better carbon offset?". Grist.
- ^ Griekspoor, P.J. (Feb 12, 2019). "Nori is developing a trading platform for Carbon Removal Certificates". FarmProgress.
- ^ "The carbon question: Making global carbon markets work for farmers". AgFunder News. April 21, 2021.
- ^ Popkin, Gabriel (March 31, 2020). "Can 'Carbon Smart' Farming Play a Key Role in the Climate Fight?". Yale Environment 360.
- ^ Trendafilova, Petya (2023-12-11). "Nori Launches Nori Net Zero Tonne™ - The First Hybrid Carbon Removal Credit". Carbon Herald. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
- ^ Vasquez, Justina (Oct 28, 2020). "Iowa farmer finds fortune in selling carbon credits to Shopify". Bloomberg.