Carbonplace secures $45m in funding; appoints new CEO

By Gloria Methri

Carbon credit transaction network Carbonplace has raised $45 million in a strategic round of investment and formed its own entity, it was announced this week.

Carbonplace, which connects buyers and sellers of carbon credits through their banks, secured the seed funding from the financial institutions which founded the FinTechs: BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest, Standard Chartered, SMBC, and UBS.

Through the investment, each bank shares equal equity ownership in the new company which is expected to launch its platform later this year.

Headquartered in London, Carbonplace will be led by CEO Scott Eaton. Eaton, who has held several senior leadership roles in financial technology and capital markets, is joining from capital markets FinTech Nivaura, where he served as CEO. Prior to Nivaura, he was CEO of Algomi from 2018 until its sale to BGC in 2020.

Carbonplace intends to leverage this investment to scale the platform and its team to expand services to a wider client base of financial institutions and accelerate partnerships with additional carbon market participants.

Scott Eaton said, “With Carbonplace, we are transforming the way that carbon credits are bought, distributed, held, and retired. I am excited to take this company to the next level of its evolution, and to help unlock its massive potential to drive significant economic and social value by opening the carbon markets up to the world.”

Carbonplace has already piloted trades with a host of buyers, sellers, registries, and exchanges, including global payments technology company Visa, and Singapore-based marketplace Climate Impact X.

Robert Begbie, CEO, NatWest Markets said, “According to McKinsey, global demand for voluntary carbon credits is likely to increase by a factor of 15 in the next seven years. To meet that demand, Carbonplace is delivering a reliable, secure, and scalable technology that will form a crucial part of the infrastructure for carbon markets to drive climate action at scale.”