Funga claims to be the first nature-based carbon removal to be powered by belowground biodiversity restoration. The company just raised a $4 million round.
The company was founded by ecologist and climate scientist Dr. Colin Averill, and it combines modern DNA sequencing and machine learning technology with breakthrough research on the forest microbiome. This approach allows Funga to put the right native, biodiverse communities of mycorrhizal fungi in the right place. The strategy is based on the idea that the reintroduction of wild soil microbial biodiversity can accelerate plant growth by an average of 64%, which in turn accelerates carbon capture.
“An entire galaxy exists below our feet, made up of millions of species of bacteria and fungi. These microscopic organisms have profound effects on forest growth and carbon capture, that until now have been overlooked as a way to accelerate natural climate solutions while also restoring essential microbial biodiversity to our soils,” says Averill in an interview with TechCrunch. “Our team at ETH Zürich’s Crowther Lab has spent years documenting how these fungi ultimately affect tree growth. We’ve learnt that restoration of belowground fungal communities can significantly accelerate plant growth and carbon capture. We’re thankful for the support of our investors that will allow our team to take this science out of the lab and into our forests, generating biodiversity and climate action at scale.”
The company’s $4 million seed funding round was led by Azolla Ventures. Additional participants in the round include Trailhead Capital, Better Venturesand Shared Future Fund as part of a Collaborative Fund vehicle. Funga reps tell us that the funding will be used to accelerate the development of Funga’s proprietary software and datasets; scale the footprint of its forest microbiome restoration projects; and ultimately offer a new class of high-quality, sustainable carbon removal at pace with rapidly escalating demand.