Why we are doubling down on CEEZER

Two years ago, when we first spoke with Magnus, CEEZER’s Founder and CEO, we were immediately fascinated by how he thinks about building a category-defining company. Diving deep into the voluntary carbon market at that time, we were very excited by the incredible growth in the adoption of carbon credits and were similarly shocked by the opaqueness and problems that were prevalent — and to a point still are — in this market. It is plagued by a lack of transparency, exorbitant reseller margins, and quality disparities (you can learn more about it in our piece on how tech can fix the voluntary carbon market). We realised this combination was a perfect breeding ground for visionary entrepreneurs to develop new solutions.

Why we started working with Magnus in 2021

Magnus himself brings 10 years of experience in working on climate-related issues to the table. But that was not all that convinced us to partner with him: He demonstrated entrepreneurial prowess and unmatched clarity in conceptualising and validating the business model in the earliest days in which we started working together. His visionary thinking effortlessly attracted top-notch talent, convinced major clients, and charmed tier-one investors. Through all the long nights of collaboration, we witnessed first-hand the sheer execution excellence of Magnus, and subsequently, the CEEZERs and decided to partner with them as part of their pre-seed round.

A transparent way to screen, purchase and manage negative emissions

To really solve the existing problems in this opaque market, CEEZER set out to build the infrastructure that connects suppliers and buyers of carbon credits, and integrates carbon ratings and partners with registries and accounting players globally. The platform offers customers a new, transparent way to screen, buy and manage negative emissions. It allows customers to make those transactions as simply as financial ones, across nearly all types of credits and transaction types. And like platforms in other verticals, it is going to solidify its defensibility with scale.

The product addresses both the needs of carbon project developers and corporate buyers globally. Project developers benefit from easy inventory management, can simply individualize their digital storefront, benchmark against peers and transact seamlessly with buyers globally. Buyers can access vetted projects quickly, build and manage their credit portfolio and make informed buying decisions based on millions of proprietary and validated third-party data points.

But that’s not all: CEEZER is currently building an ecosystem with its platform as the central infrastructure tying everything the market needs to function together in one place. It is deeply integrated into demand-side systems, it offers supply-side tooling, and it is partnering with accounting solutions, registries and rating agencies alike. We believe that this combination sets CEEZER apart and will allow it to become the focal point of the global carbon market.

Why we continue to believe in CEEZER and the voluntary carbon market

The voluntary carbon market could reach 1 trillion USD in size by 2050 with good reason: Without the necessary action, we are very unlikely to meet the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement. We believe climate action should be emission reduction first, paired with carbon offsetting and removal via the carbon market. And we are not alone with this assessment — basically, all large consultancies and banks such as McKinsey and Barclays are similarly expecting sky-high growth for this industry.

CEEZER stepped onto this stage with a mission to disrupt by correcting the misaligned incentives through technological innovation, creating transparency, and building the infrastructure for climate action at scale. We believe that CEEZER will be at the forefront of this.

This is why today we are excited to announce that we are doubling down as part of CEEZER’s EUR 10.3 million funding round alongside HV Capital, Norrsken & Carbon Removal Partners.

Our doubling down on CEEZER is not only representative of the industries we believe in but also a testament to the remarkable performance of the CEEZER team creating exceptional momentum. Signs of customer love, the accelerating flywheel, impressive product progress, and the broader uptick in the carbon market solidify our belief that this is the perfect storm, and we want to be right in the center of it.

To Magnus, Carla, Hannes, and the entire CEEZER team — here’s to many more years of innovation, success, and creating impact at scale.

Co-authored by Oliver Heinrich, Partner and Stephan Füchtenhans, Vice President at Picus Capital