The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has announced its further investment of $9 million into Loam Bio’s successful A$105 million Series B funding round.
According to CEFC, the latest investment, provided through the CEFC’s Clean Energy Innovation Fund, brings the organisation’s total contribution to the company to $15 million.
Loam Bio, an Australian startup, is entering the Australian market following years of product development and its current A$105 million Series B funding round. According to Loam, its microbial technology for cropping systems is poised to revolutionise CO2 removal.
Loam Co-Founder and CEO Guy Hudson stated that Loam’s microbial technology allows for better carbon storage in soils for long periods.
“Increasing the quantity and quality of carbon units farmers can produce per hectare, makes participating in carbon projects more economically valuable for farming enterprises,” Hudson said.
Loam has unveiled its CarbonBuilder seed inoculum and SecondCrop carbon initiatives in the Australian market.
Hudson stated that Loam is currently focused on getting its products out on farms after years of product research and development.
“This year we’re moving from pre-commercial to commercial and launching our products in Australia, working with a limited number of farmers to help them gain value from our products and services in Australia,” Hudson said.
Hudson added that the company is working towards commercialisation in the United States in 2024, then expansion into Brazil and helping farmers worldwide gain value from carbon markets.
According to Loam, its investors share the aim of empowering farmers to remove CO2 from the environment and be leaders in climate action. With participation from Horizons Ventures, Acre Venture Partners, Main Sequence, the CEFC, Grok Ventures, and others, Loam’s Series B was co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Wollemi Capital, bringing the company’s total funding to A$150 million.
“Soil carbon capture is both a climate imperative as well as a huge financial opportunity for both farmers and investors. Wollemi, a global climate investment specialist, is excited to support Loam’s pioneering work,” Wollemi Capital Co-founder Paul Hunyor said.
Opening up carbon markets for Australian farmers: For a long time, it was believed that cropping soils had little to no chance of generating soil carbon, making the idea of participating in a carbon project unprofitable for farmers. By focusing on the root system of plants, Loam’s CarbonBuilder seed inoculum alters this by focusing on plants’ root systems. It improves the plants’ innate capacity to store carbon in soil over the long term by focusing on the root system of plants.
Loam Co-founder and CPO Tegan Nock is eager to put the CarbonBuilder technology in farmers’ hands and commercialise it.
“Loam’s CarbonBuilder is the first of its kind. A simple product that farmers can apply in the agricultural system enabling them to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it stably in soil,” Nock stated.
Loam is launching its CarbonBuilder platform with its SecondCrop carbon initiatives to promote transparency, economic value, and maximise the benefits of increased soil carbon supplied back to the farm sector.
“SecondCrop is Loam’s carbon farming program which enables more farmer-friendly pathways to enter carbon projects with greater support and more flexibility,” Nock added.
Nock said SecondCrop combines world-class microbial technology from Loam with a farmer-friendly carbon initiative to get the best agronomic and climatic benefits.
 has announced its further investment of $9 million into Loam Bio’s successful A$105 million Series B funding round.){kind=link}