Trill Impact Ventures leads Soil Capital’s EUR 15m Series B financing round

Trill Impact Ventures has led the EUR 15m Series B in Soil Capital, a Belgian regenerative agriculture start-up. Other investors participating in the round include Ring Capital, Sandwater, Société Fédérale de Participations et d'Investissement (SFPIM), Santander Alternative Investments, the co-founders and other existing shareholders. Proceeds from the round will support Soil Capital’s product development and international expansion in Europe and beyond.

Soil Capital was founded in 2013 with the belief that farmers must be recognized, supported and compensated for their essential contribution to solving environmental challenges and producing healthy, nutritious food. In 2019, the company launched a carbon certificate programme that rewards farmers for transitioning to regenerative agricultural practices, while helping large food corporates reduce their net emissions and improve the sustainability of their supply chains.

Since the carbon programme launch, Soil Capital has expanded its farmer base to over 1,600 farmers covering 350,000 hectares in Belgium, France and the UK, and established relationships with some of the leading players in the agri-food sector including MARS, Royal Canin, Boortmalt and Cefetra, among others¹. Its Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) methodology, combined with its hands-on farmer support and large network in the sector, underpin Soil Capital’s potential to capture the growing demand for high-integrity carbon credits.

With the proceeds of the financing round, the company will continue to scale its offerings within Europe and beyond, as well as further develop its platform to not only consider GHG emissions reductions from regenerative practices, but also indicators like soil health, water quality, biodiversity and socio-economic aspects of farm operations.

Dr. Alexander Domin, Partner at Trill Impact Advisory and Co-Head of Trill Impact Ventures, says:

To reach emissions reduction targets by 2030, significant efforts are needed to not only reduce, but also remove greenhouse gases from our warming atmosphere. Regenerative agriculture holds significant potential to accelerate CO2 sequestration, alongside a myriad of co-benefits that serve the environment, improve farmers’ livelihoods and strengthen global food security through increased resilience to climate change.

We believe that Soil Capital is well positioned to champion the regenerative agriculture transition. With their large base of loyal farmers and high-integrity standards for carbon credits, they help some of the world’s largest food corporates reduce their net emissions and strengthen their supply chain’s resilience to climate change.

 The investment in Soil Capital is a testament to Trill Impact’s belief that business models addressing crucial climate challenges have great potential to become commercial winners. Together with our co-investors, we look forward to supporting the team’s ambition to enable farmers’ around the world in their transition

Chuck de Liedekerke, CEO and Co-Founder of Soil Capital, says:

During the first six years of Soil Capital's existence, we were directly involved in the agricultural reality and the consequences of climate change as we managed farms ourselves. But that was not enough, and that’s why we launched the Soil Capital programme in 2019. Since then, we have improved and developed this programme with a growing number of farmers and agri-food companies. Today, it is these stakeholders who encourage us to grow and continue our mission so that it can serve other territories.

Trill Impact played an instrumental role throughout our fundraise, leading a smooth process from beginning to end, and bringing onboard co-investors who share our vision. We are happy to have this strong consortium of impact investors join us on our journey ahead.

Concurrent with the financing, Alexander Domin from Trill Impact Advisory, Peter De Decker from SFPIM, Tom Even Mortensen from Sandwater and Charlotte Lafont from Ring Capital will join Soil Capital’s board of directors. Chloe Fu (Trill Impact Advisory), Adele Unneberg (Sandwater) and Santiago Gil (Santander) will also join as Board Observers.

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only and should not be considered to be a recommendation to buy or sell securities or as investment advice. All statements and opinions included herein are subject to change as economic and market conditions dictate. There can be no assurance that any views, outlooks, or forward-looking statements will come to pass.