Flowcarbon, the blockchain startup led by former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, raises $70 million

Flowcarbon, co-founded by former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, has raised $70 million to build a blockchain carbon-credit market.

I’m excited to share today that @a16z crypto is leading the series A round of @weareflowcarbon as they develop an on-chain carbon credit tokenization platform to bring their net-zero vision to fruition.
More from @_PorterSmith and me below. https://t.co/lpcL7cF6C2

— AriannaSimpson.eth (@AriannaSimpson) May 24, 2022

The round, which included both venture funding and a private token sale, was led by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, a16z. The startup was backed by General Catalyst, Samsung Next, Invesco Private Capital and other investors. Participants in the token sale included Fifth Wall, Box Group and the Celo Foundation.

“Flowcarbon’s mission is to channel billions of dollars directly to projects that reduce or remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere by creating the first open protocol for tokenising certified carbon credits worldwide,” the company said.

The startup will provide project developers with direct access to a market of buyers for their credits through blockchain.

The first Flowcarbon token backed by emissions quotas will be Goddess Nature Token (GNT) on the Celo network.

“GNT can be used as collateral for lending, as an asset for the protocol treasury, as part of reserves for stablecoins, or as a means of payment in the network,” said Arianna Simpson, general partner at a16z Crypto.

According to Reuters, the private sale of GNT raised $38 million for the startup, and venture capital investments totaled $32 million.

Founders of Flowcarbon include Adam Neumann with wife Rebekah, Dana Gibber (who has taken the CEO post), Caroline Klatt (COO) and Phil Vogel (Chief Blockchain Officer). The project team numbers 35 employees.

Earlier in November 2021, the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits (4C) announced the launch of a decentralised market on the Tezos blockchain.