Living Carbon converts degraded U.S. mine and agricultural land into contracted, hyperscaler-backed carbon and biomass revenue by planting biotech-enhanced trees engineered for faster growth and higher yield. The wedge is a first-of-kind commercial CRISPR editing platform for trees paired with an operating model that sells both carbon credits (permanent forestry) and gene-edited biomass wood chips (SAF, bioenergy, industrial chemicals) — two revenue streams from the same acre, financed almost entirely by external project capital rather than the parent balance sheet.
Validation is unusually concrete for a climate biotech: a 20-year, take-or-pay Microsoft contract covering 25,000 acres, LOIs from Google, Meta and McKinsey for the remaining offtake on that project, a 200,000-ton/year DG Fuels SAF biomass contract, and a milestone-based Biolum deal — totaling $637M+ in contracted bookings as of the 2025-08-29 investor call. Peer-reviewed field data (Oak Ridge, 2025 Developmental Cell) shows up to 88% biomass increase in poplar with the BSTR gene Living Carbon has exclusively licensed. SH committed $163,800 via StoryHouse SPV - Fund I on 2025-11-03, at a $95M post-money on a $35M new-money round co-led by Toyota Ventures and Octopus Energy Generation, with LowerCarbon Capital, B37, Temasek and 776 co-investing.
Nature-based carbon removal is the largest and fastest-scaling wedge of the CDR market, with reforestation and afforestation carrying most of the volume because they are the cheapest durable-tonne pathway that hyperscalers can actually deploy at meaningful scale today. Corporate net-zero deadlines and the emergence of forward purchase agreements ($13.7B in 2025 alone) have shifted demand from spot credits to multi-decade, take-or-pay contracts — the exact structure Living Carbon has landed with Microsoft. The market pulled back on investor participation in 2025 (down 47% YoY per Heatmap), which favors incumbents with signed offtake over new entrants.
| Player | Positioning | Funding / Stage | Edge vs. them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living Carbon | CRISPR-edited poplar + biomass + carbon dual-revenue model on degraded land | Series B, $95M post, $36M raised pre-round | — |
| Chestnut Restoration (SUNY-ESF) | Blight-resistant American chestnut, non-commercial research program | Academic / non-profit | Living Carbon has USDA non-regulated status and commercial plantings at scale; chestnut program lost American Chestnut Foundation support in Dec 2023 due to poor field performance Web |
| Traditional afforestation developers | Native-species reforestation, no genetic enhancement | Various; commodity carbon economics | Living Carbon's peer-reviewed 88% biomass gain (Oak Ridge/BSTR gene) drives higher project IRRs on the same acre Web |
| Waste-biomass / corn-stover suppliers | Agricultural residue as SAF/bioenergy feedstock | Established commodity supply | Per 2025-08-22 investor call: Living Carbon chips $90–120/ton with carbon intensity 4.3–5.6 vs. corn stover $75/ton at CI 29 — superior energy yield and much lower CI Internal |
| Direct Air Capture (Climeworks, Heirloom, etc.) | Engineered CDR, higher permanence, higher cost | Multiple Series B/C; sector saw shutdowns (Noya, Alkali Earth) in 2025 Web | Living Carbon delivers durable tonnes today at nature-based cost points; DAC still needs deep policy support to scale |
Moat: Exclusive Oak Ridge National Lab license on the BSTR gene, first-mover USDA non-regulated status on gene-edited poplar (received 2020, 3 months after application), signed multi-decade offtake with the largest single carbon buyer on the planet, and a land-sourcing pipeline of 17,000+ acres in late-stage negotiation with landowners paid only $42/acre annually.
The most credible acquirer profile is a large energy or industrial buyer that already has offtake exposure — Octopus Energy Generation has already taken a $500M project-financing exclusivity, and the hyperscaler customer set (Microsoft, Google, Meta) has a track record of vertically integrating CDR supply. Climate-tech M&A activity picked up meaningfully into 2025–2026 with acquisitions comprising ~89% of all exits Web, and larger companies picking up smaller specialists is the dominant pattern Web. On the SH Series B entry at $95M, a strategic exit in the $1–3B range as contracted bookings convert to recognized revenue would drive a 5–12x on this check; the seed shares SH still holds ($1.9756 converted basis) provide additional upside on the same outcome.
Maddie's written response to Patrick Adams' diligence questions about biotech-enhanced species performance, land selection, and field-trial evidence. This is an email, not a call.
Maddie's responses to Patrick Adams' follow-up questions:
Hi Miles, Sorry for the delay. This question is actually a bit more complex to answer than it looks. See our answer below. Happy to hop on a call with him today and talk through any 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.
The combination of high survivability on mine land sites and high field performance of the genetic traits gives us confidence that our projects will be highly profitable for our investors.
Diligence call with Maddie. Octopus Energy Generation cleared IC the prior week to invest $12M in equity and $50M in project financing, co-leading the round with Toyota; only $5–7M allocation remaining, targeting an October 15 initial close.
Raw notes: Octopus energy, which is 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.
How much is Toyota doing? How much had they invested previously? $3.5M check from Toyota; previously did $6.5M (across two financings); Toyota put $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 and blurb and memo. Miles to share email with LPs for call next Wednesday at 9:30am-10:30am PST.
Maddie's email flagging that a new investor (later confirmed as Octopus Energy Generation) is stepping in as Series B co-lead alongside Toyota and will separately provide $50M in project financing plus exclusivity on up to $500M of future projects. Only $7M of the round remained at that point.
Update from Maddie re: new investor for Series B.
Hi Miles, I am so sorry I missed this. Things have been crazy (in a good way). Would love to give you the latest on the fundraise. Would you have a few mins to touch base Monday? Here is the latest data room.
A new investor is stepping in to co-lead the Series B alongside Toyota and is also investing an additional $50M to cover the costs associated with delivering on the MSFT contract as our project financing partner.
This investor also operates the largest residential power company in the UK and will have exclusivity to finance up to $500M of new projects. We could not ask for a better partner to support our scaling. With them on board, we only have $7M left in the round and need to confirm allocations as soon as possible. Would love to have your LPs participate and continue to deepen the connection with the StoryHouse fam as we grow!