Riverse raised €5 million in seed funding to make carbon credits work for real companies and the real challenges they face. Alven and Racine², Serena’s climate-specialized arm, led the oversubscribed round, with continued support from SpeedInvest (who led its pre-seed round) and newcomer Kfund.
The voluntary carbon market challenge
The carbon market today faces both a lack of transparency and a business disconnect between issuers and buyers.
Indeed, the voluntary market suffered from some scandals, namely the Guardian big reveal early 2023[1] about the materiality of nature-based carbon credits. It badly impacted the trustworthiness of long-established players like VERRA and questioned the quality of MRV actors who measure and verify the carbon impact of credits’ issuers. Besides, companies want carbon credits that connect meaningfully to their day-to-day operations, in their geography, industry, or value chain.
In this context, Riverse comes a relevant solution for both credits’ issuers and corporate buyers.
From a trust perspective, Riverse is fully ICROA-endorsed thanks to its in-house science team, supported by leading independent market experts and scientists. The platform integrates models aligned with ISO 14064-2 standards, which are continuously improved using real-world data.
From a sourcing perspective, Riverse is a standard and platform dedicated to engineered projects (non nature-based ones). It supports a spectrum of avoidance and removal projects, from IT refurbishment and biobased construction materials to enhanced rock weathering and biomass carbon removal. The common denominator across them is technology: all credits are measured and verified through precise, auditable industrial data, all of which is accessible on Riverse registry.
A very strong execution since its inception
Riverse approach is built on a few key pillars: Scientific integrity, Business relevance, Field engineering expertise, Hands-on partnership.
Since its inception in 2022, the team has executed on all pillars in parallel. The pre-seed funding has enabled the company to:
- Receive full ICROA endorsement—the first organization to do so under its rigorous new assessment procedure. ICROA is the industry’s de facto beacon of quality assurance, and their validation underscores the integrity and transparency of the Riverse Standard.
- Validate 60+ projects and issue 250,000+ carbon credits—engineered solutions that vary from industrial decarbonization to carbon removal technologies.
- Partner with industry leaders and top-tier corporate buyers—including key players like Patch, EcoAct, Southpole, CEEZER, Removall, and Carbonapp, and forward-thinking corporates like BNP Paribas, Mirakl, Engie, and Bouygues.
- Run a faster, more efficient certification process (typically under 3 months). Riverse platform uses field data, modular models, and third-party audits to streamline workflows, enhance accuracy, and reduce manual work.
Evolving the market
As regulatory frameworks solidify and corporate climate commitments face greater scrutiny, the need for carbon credits that connect meaningfully to business operations is growing.
Offering a scalable platform established on scientific rigor, Riverse is well-positioned to become a European reference for engineered credits.
This €5m-seed will enable the team to invest in its brand-building and sales strategy, as well as expanding its scientific methodologies across new verticals to broaden its credit offering.
[1] “Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest certifier are worthless, analysis shows”, The Guardian.