A roller-coaster ride in the rearview … a lunar effect on the horizon
What a journey this past year has been. Post-lockdown saw Agreena adapt and overcome some edifying adversity while garnering some big wins in the process. And while many companies have laid low this year with a pending recession looming, this hasn’t been the case with Agreena.
We started off the 2022 year with a hefty €20M Series A investment to put our business model and growth into overdrive. This increased our business reach by 10x and allowed a seven-fold surge in our talented personnel. What was once an office too big quickly became too small, and so we moved our operations to our current location overlooking the picturesque Copenhagen Harbour.
One of our biggest wins came this past summer, when we acquired UK-born Hummingbird Technologies. Integration is never easy, but I’m happy to say that I’ve never been part of a smoother transition. With Hummingbird fully on board, we’re now able to provide our customers with the world’s leading Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) technology that further enhances our carbon certificate programme, and opens up our offering to governments and supply chains globally.
Closing out the year, the EU has taken a globally leading, first-mover role with the Commission proposing an EU-wide voluntary framework to reliably certify high-quality carbon removals, in which carbon farming is covered. While the framework will be further developed in the years to come, this shows that our leaders are taking a more proactive role to further stimulate the development of soil carbon sequestration from both the public and private sector, which is a significant testament to the growth and impact that is yet to come.
A long look back
While the year has definitely ended on a high for us at Agreena, we also need to take a step back and reflect on overcoming the challenges that got us to where we are today. Post-lockdown carried over some habits formed during the Corona days, namely adapting to a hybrid workplace. Our team now enjoys a balance of working remotely and having an inviting, physical workspace located in the heart of Copenhagen where they can form a sense of community, whether online or in person.
The beginning of 2022 also saw Europe, and much of the world for that matter, thrust into a macro-political quagmire due to the war in Ukraine. Agreena’s original plan to address the needs of large farms both in Ukraine and Russia saw us reshuffling our strategy mid-stride, while still keeping up a supporting pace with the needs of Ukrainian farmers. Fast forward to the second half of the year, where we joined forces with Ukraine’s Ministry of Agriculture at COP27 to promote the work we’ve been doing to support climate-friendly farming among Ukrainian farmers.
“We joined forces with Ukraine’s Ministry of Agriculture at COP27.”
When we launched our AgreenaCarbon platform, we developed the first internationally accredited soil carbon programme in Europe, accredited to ISO 14064-2 standard and aligned to the latest IPCC figures for quantification. Another strategic shift was our decision to bring our certificates into the voluntary carbon market Verra standard, VCS, to generate the strongest value to our farmers’ added revenue streams.
It’s fairly simple to create traction in easily predictable situations that conjure consistent tailwind. But the reality is that we’re building a new category – a “blue ocean”, as strategists would call it – and this requires the communal ability to manage uncertainties. We don’t just follow a well-tested recipe at Agreena; we often have to develop it. This is where Agreena has taken a leading role globally. In a new and unfolding market, we’re not only using our tech platform to support farmers and the transition to regenerative agriculture, we’re also leaning on our team’s heavy financial industry backbone to bring forth new solutions with the advanced technologies of the future, such as DLT and sustainable blockchain. We also entered into an EU regulatory sandbox and made moves on the tokenization of our carbon credits.
“… promoting new offerings and services, and expectedly growing our Agreena family through additional acquisitions.”
An optimistic look ahead
It feels as though we’re swimming against the collective current at the moment. While many tech companies are holding back, playing safe and even downsizing, we’re accelerating. But we’ve always been bullish at Agreena, with the courage to raise the bar when it comes to both business and climate action opportunities anchored in our team.
Right now we’re in a unique position. The core of our business model means that every time we earn one euro of revenue, we enable one unit of carbon reduction/removal. Sustainability isn’t just an ingredient or policy we add; it’s literally what we serve up day after day. And we serve it in a space where we can enable an effect that can literally be seen from the moon.
A final, far-out thought
Right now we’re in a unique position. The core of our business model means that every time we earn one euro of revenue, we enable one unit of carbon reduction/removal. Sustainability isn’t just an ingredient or policy we add; it’s literally what we serve up day after day. It’s what we do.
And we serve it in a space where we can enable an effect that can literally be seen from the moon.
I wake up to the image above in my head every day; it’s the picture I paint to my kids when I explain to them why I need to leave on yet another business trip. In other words, it’s my way of making sense of how I spend the most important currency we all have – time. I spend my time here, at Agreena, trying to create a more sustainable future for my family, for farmers and for the planet. Because, in the end, it’s worth it … and I hope you, either partly or fully, feel the same.
From all of us at Agreena, we look forward to serving you in a prosperous 2023.
