- Bio-Logical, a Kenyan climate startup, has secured $1.3 million in funding to expand its Mount Kenya biochar facility. This will increase production capacity and enhance efforts to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Kenya.
- CrossBoundary, Redshaw Advisors and other existing investors, including the Steyn Group, led the funding round.
- Rory Buckworth, co-CEO of the company, revealed that the funding round is an important step towards scaling up their Mount Kenya facility and replicating the model for future expansion as they intend to establish three new sites across Kenya over the next 18 months.
In November 2023, the startup secured a $1 million in seed funding for its inaugural site in the country. It also planned to support 1 million smallholder farmers and sequester 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually by 2030.
Founded by Rory Buckworth (CEO) and Philip Hunter in 2022, Bio-Logical uses technology to sequester carbon from agricultural waste and transform it into a powerful, climate resilience-building fertiliser.
Hunter acknowledged that the firm doesn’t only sequester carbon but also develop affordable, soil-regenerating fertiliser that boosts yields and improves climate resilience for these farmers across Kenyan farmers. He highlighted that smallholder farmers are disproportionately affected by climate change, despite having little responsibility for its causes.
Louis Redshaw, Redshaw Advisors’ CEO said, “Redshaw Advisors is pleased to participate in Bio-Logical’s latest fundraising round, which will support the creation of high-integrity carbon removal credits while simultaneously benefiting farmers in need of climate resilience solutions.
This investment complements our work with corporations committed to positive climate action through high-quality projects in countries requiring decarbonization support.”
According to an analysis by startup funding data tracker Africa, The Big Deal, African climate tech startups have recorded $325 million so far in 2024. It highlighted that in the past five years, climate tech funding has experienced significant growth, with investments rising from $340 million in 2019 to $344 million in 2020, $613 million in 2021, $959 million in 2022, and reaching $1.1 billion in 2023.
Per Statista, Kenya accounted for the highest share of climate tech startup funding in Africa, at 53%. Nigeria and Ghana followed with shares reaching 11% and 9%, respectively.
Moreover, between 2019 and 2023, Kenya is said to have the highest number of climate tech start-ups that raised over $ 100,000.
