Estonian agritech startup eAgronom secures €10m to expand sustainable farming practices
eAgronom, the Estonian agriculture-focused climate tech company helping farmers adopt sustainable practices for the health of their soils and the planet, has secured €10 million in its Series A2 equity round.
The round includes €4.2 million raised during a booster round last year, now converted into equity, plus an additional €5.8 million raised this year. Swedbank AB is leading the round with a €4 million investment. In addition to the new lead investor, the three investors who participated in eAgronom's convertible round in 2023 – Icos Capital, Soulmates Ventures, and SmartCap Green Fund – have increased their investments to support the company’s growth plans. Funds raised will expand eAgronom’s presence in key markets and scale the company in various sustainable farming programs, especially Scope 3 and sustainable financing. As part of its ongoing fundraising efforts, eAgronom plans to raise an additional €2-4 million later this year.
Promoting agriculture practice change is a crucial sustainability measure and integral to eAgronom’s mission. Food production is responsible for about 31% of total greenhouse gas emissions, with 70% of these emissions originating at the farm level. By 2050 we will need to produce 60% more food to feed a growing population of 9.3 billion. This makes farmers indispensable to reduction efforts. By leveraging carbon insetting and regenerative farming practices, eAgronom aims to significantly reduce carbon footprints while providing real financial incentives and education for farmers.
Prior funding rounds have enabled eAgronom to initiate field trials and seminars with partner farmers, so together they can determine best practices for each region with specific climate and soil conditions. Beyond expanding the total number of onboarded farmers that can store more carbon in the soil, the funding round also positions eAgronom to start selling carbon credits through its Carbon Program, offering additional revenue streams for farmers, and improving its practice verification capabilities.
Robin Saluoks, Co-founder and CEO, eAgronom: ''The average farmer has only 40 harvests to experiment with throughout their entire career. This makes the farming sector extremely conservative. If something is more or less working then it makes sense to continue with it. eAgronom’s sustainability programs - food value chain/scope 3, offsetting, sustainable finance, and others - help to reduce the risk for farmers by providing extra incentives and education. The ongoing funding round will help us to scale these initiatives to many more farmers.''
eAgronom’s Carbon Program relies on the efficient carbon sequestering capabilities of soil. As a natural carbon sink, the efficacy of soil is second only to the world’s oceans. The Carbon Program follows the strictest development principles and methodology as laid out by the greenhouse gas crediting program Verra. In addition, thanks to Swedbank’s ongoing cooperation with eAgronom, the bank offers Baltic agricultural customers favorable financing terms if they meet the criteria required to qualify for eAgronom's sustainable loan certificate that is based on the EU Taxonomy proposal.
Jon Lidefelt, Head of Baltic Banking, Swedbank: ''Enabling our customers in their transition with products and services is key for Swedbank. The partnership with eAgronom adds to a fantastic overall solution for our agricultural customers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. With this investment, we advance our commitment in eAgronom to strengthen the ecosystem of partnerships for the benefit of our customers.''
Founded in 2016, eAgronom now works with over 3,000+ farmers in 14 countries. Working directly with eAgronom, partner farms across Europe and Africa have already stored 525,000 tCO2 p.a., which is roughly equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of 100,000 people. The company is on track to reach its 4.1 million hectare target by 2025.
