SH's Seed-round position in Living Carbon — a check in the Bay Area public benefit company using gene-edited trees to make reforestation an economically viable carbon-removal and biomass business. Living Carbon is a public benefit company that engineers hybrid poplar and loblolly pine to accelerate photosynthesis and biomass accumulation, with the wedge of turning degraded mine land and abandoned agricultural acres into cash-flowing reforestation projects that sell both carbon credits and woody biomass feedstock.
Validation at Seed was almost entirely team + syndicate: Maddie Hall (ex-OpenAI special projects, CMC '14) and Patrick Mellor as co-founders, Y Combinator backing, and an early syndicate that later expanded to Felicis, Lowercarbon Capital, Homebrew, Floodgate, Toyota Ventures, and Temasek. SH participated via the T-Bird vehicle for an ultimate 0.33% ownership stake, with the company subsequently raising $36M total across Seed II, Series A, and a 2025 Series B led by Toyota Ventures. The Seed thesis has since been validated by a Microsoft agreement for 1.4M tonnes of carbon removal across Appalachian mine lands and a multi-hundred-million-dollar biomass pipeline anchored by DG Fuels and Biolum.
Seed-round-specific round size, cap, and SH check size are not recorded in Airtable for this deal. Dollar figures above are company-level totals across all rounds as of the 2025 Series B.
At the time of Seed (Aug 2020), the voluntary carbon credit market was pre-Microsoft-scale demand; Living Carbon was underwriting the bet that corporate net-zero commitments would create durable buyer-side pull for high-quality nature-based removal at 10x current prices. That thesis has since played out: average voluntary carbon prices rose from $8/tCO2e in 2022 to $42/tCO2e in 2025 Web, and the largest hyperscalers (Microsoft, Google, Meta) are now direct offtakers.
| Player | Positioning | Funding / Stage | Edge vs. them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living Carbon | CRISPR gene-edited hybrid poplar & loblolly pine for accelerated photosynthesis; dual revenue from carbon credits + woody biomass | Seed 2020, $36M total, Series B 2025 | — |
| Chestnut Carbon | Large-scale afforestation on degraded ag land in the Southeastern U.S. using native species; no genetic enhancement | Founded 2022 by Kimmeridge; 17M+ trees planted, Microsoft 25-year offtake | Living Carbon claims higher biomass per acre via biotech traits; Chestnut wins on native-species narrative and speed to scale Web |
| Terraformation | Native-biodiverse reforestation platform (seed banks, solar-desalination, planning software) for community-led projects globally | Series A+; broader software/services model | Living Carbon competes on unit economics of engineered feedstock vs. Terraformation's platform play Web |
| Mati Carbon | Enhanced rock weathering on smallholder farms in India; mineral-based CO2 sequestration + agronomic co-benefit | XPRIZE Carbon Removal grand prize winner (2025) | Different modality entirely; competes for the same corporate buyer wallet, not for the same land or approach |
Moat: exclusive Oak Ridge National Lab BSTR gene license (peer-reviewed up-to-88% biomass increase in poplar per 2025 Developmental Cell paper, per founder-provided reference in 2025-10-13 note), combined with a land-sourcing playbook targeting degraded mine land where alternative uses are effectively zero — creating both a technical and a land-supply moat.
Note: no Living Carbon Seed-round DD form is on file in Airtable — the only Forms record for this company was created in 2023 and covers the Series A/B period. Metrics below reflect post-Seed traction that has since validated the original thesis.
Comparable carbon-removal exits are early but signal a maturing acquirer set: Occidental Petroleum acquired Carbon Engineering for $1.1B in 2023 and DAC startup Holocene in 2025, and O&G majors were 3 of the top 5 climate-tech acquirers in 2024 Web. Named plausible acquirers for Living Carbon: energy majors seeking scope-3 offset supply (Oxy, Shell, BP), forest-products companies (Weyerhaeuser, Suzano), or utility/renewable operators — with existing Series B co-investor Octopus Energy already anchoring $500M of project financing exclusivity per 2025-09-29 note. Return math from a Seed entry at low-single-digit millions of implied post-money is highly leveraged to any strategic exit above the current $100M reference valuation.
Note: none of the seven meeting notes linked to Living Carbon are specifically about the Seed decision — the earliest note (2022-08-05) covers the Series A raise and the remainder are 2025 Series B touchpoints. The three most-recent-and-substantive are surfaced here for portfolio context.
Written response from Maddie Hall to follow-up diligence questions from Patrick Adams during the Series B raise; covers the biotech-species deployment strategy, mine-land field results, and the peer-reviewed evidence base for growth-rate claims.
Maddie's responses to Patrick Adams' follow-up questions.
The focus for our biotech-enhanced species is on deployment for biomass projects planted on abandoned agricultural land rather than carbon projects, which utilize mine lands. The traits we develop are not mine land specific.
For Microsoft, Living Carbon has planted 1.28M native trees on degraded mine and agricultural land. To ensure strong performance of all trees on degraded sites, Living Carbon conducts robust site preparation to allow for the soil microbiome to regenerate and roots to take hold. We have seen strong survival across all sites (85%), including the 25,000 enhanced species. Mine lands are highly idiosyncratic and not ideal for field trials, in which we must hold all variables the same and only examine growth rate increase.
We have peer reviewed field trials on our traits. One of our biotech traits has shown up to an 88% biomass increase in third-party field trials conducted by Oak Ridge National Lab. This gives us confidence that we can exceed our 30+% growth rate target in the field to achieve favorable project IRRs.
Two of the biotech enhancements we utilize were developed externally and have a peer-reviewed record of poplar field trials. A 2025 paper in Developmental Cell reports up to an 88% biomass increase and up to a 200% increase in plant height under field conditions in hybrid poplar with the BSTR gene, which we have exclusively licensed from Oak Ridge National Lab for incorporation into other species. A 2023 paper in Nature Communications describes a 38–42% increase in plant height and a 31–35% increase in stem diameter in field trials using a different poplar hybrid.
Call with Maddie covering Octopus Energy's entry as Series B co-lead alongside Toyota Ventures, remaining allocation, and the split between equity and project financing.
Octopus Energy, the largest renewable-energy provider in the UK, came in and said they wanted to put $12M into the equity then $50M into the project financing in its entirety. Got Octopus's IC approval last week. Have $5–7M remaining. Temasek and LowerCarbon are both participating, as is 776, Tech Energy, and Moroccan Sovereign Wealth Fund. Targeting October 15 as initial close. Will have sufficient capital through 2028–29 to scale the woody biomass business.
Toyota is putting $3.5M in this round; previously did $6.5M (across two financings) — $5M into the A, then another $1.5M in a subsequent financing. Octopus is coming in the second tranche and they are a co-lead with Toyota.
Next steps: Maddie to share updated deck, blurb, and memo; Miles to share LP email for call next Wednesday 9:30–10:30am PST.
Investor video update walking through Living Carbon's evolution from carbon-credit-only to a dual carbon-plus-biomass business, the specifics of the Microsoft/DG Fuels/Biolum contracts, and the Series B financing structure.
Secured Series B termsheet from insider Toyota Ventures to lead $30M round on $76M pre-money (flat to Series A). Woody biomass has emerged as significant revenue driver, with two signed contracts totaling $512M with DG and Biolum. Finalizing second Carbon deal alongside Microsoft with Meta, McKinsey, and others.
Business model evolution: shifted from carbon-focused to biomass-focused business after market feedback. Gene-edited trees (using CRISPR) vs traditional GMO approach — customers preferred gene editing. Two main revenue streams: carbon credits and biomass (wood chips). Biomass more profitable than carbon credits.
Microsoft Deal: $127M fixed-price, take-or-pay contract over 20 years. 25,000 acres of degraded mine land (50%) and abandoned agricultural land (50%). Microsoft takes 70% of carbon credits. Additional term sheet with Google, Meta, McKinsey for remaining 30%. Project 100% sold out once second deal closes.
DG Fuels Biomass Contract: 200,000 tons annually for sustainable aviation fuel. Revenue generation starts 2027. 20-year deal, fixed price for first 10 years. $255M total profit opportunity (base case). Requires $65M total project costs. Biolum Deal: milestone-based biomass contract, no upfront financing required from Living Carbon, $60M total profit opportunity, already recognized $100K revenue in 2024.
Superior Biomass Quality: Living Carbon chips $90–120/ton with high energy yield, low carbon intensity (4.3–5.6); waste biomass $40–50/ton but lower energy yield; corn stover $75/ton but high carbon intensity (29 vs Living Carbon's 4.3–5.6). Reliable, uniform feedstock vs variable waste residue. Land Strategy: focus on degraded mine land and abandoned agricultural acres; pay landowners $42/acre annually; sites are liabilities on balance sheets with limited alternative uses; 17,000+ acres in late-stage pipeline.
2024 Performance: $637M in total bookings (over 20-year contracts). Only $2.5M recognized in 2024, ramping significantly over time. On track to plant 2,500 acres for Microsoft by year-end. Biomass pipeline: $1B+ in potential deals, current pipeline represents 1% of US renewable volume obligation, would generate $150M annual biomass value once signed. Unit economics per 1,000 acres planted: carbon revenue $9M+ over contract life, biomass revenue $11M+, Living Carbon costs $220–250K.