Seqana Raises €3.2M to Quantify Soil Health

The big picture: Berlin-based Seqana, a digital MRV (Monitoring, Reporting and Verification) company, has closed a €3.2 million funding round to quantify soil health using satellite imagery and machine learning. The investment combines venture capital and debt, led by Pymwymic, with participation from existing investors HTGF and Counteract, and a startup loan from Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank.

Why it matters:

• Climate Goals: Soil health is critical for agrifood and commodity companies managing climate objectives, with soil carbon identified as a highly scalable natural carbon sink.
• Supply Chain Resilience: Soil degradation poses a significant financial risk, costing the EU an estimated €50 billion annually, and impacting yield stability and product quality.
• Regenerative Agriculture: Accurate measurement of soil carbon levels and accumulation is essential for assessing the effectiveness of regenerative agriculture practices and their role in the voluntary carbon market.

How it works:

• Digital MRV Tooling: Seqana develops digital MRV tools to quantify various soil health indicators at scale, focusing on accuracy and scientific rigor.
• Satellite and Machine Learning: The company combines proprietary machine learning models with ground-truth data and satellite imagery to create tools like Digital Soil Maps and Soil Sampling Designs.
• Industry Standards and Clients: Seqana has contributed to voluntary carbon market standards (Verra VM0042 v3, Gold Standard SOC Model Guidelines) and serves clients such as Danone, eAgronom, Klim, and Bayer across millions of hectares.

The catch: While the market for soil health quantification and regenerative agriculture is expanding, ensuring consistent accuracy and cost-effectiveness across diverse agricultural landscapes remains a challenge. The nascent nature of the voluntary carbon market and varying scientific approaches could lead to fragmentation, requiring companies like Seqana to continuously validate their methodologies against evolving industry standards and competitive offerings.