Startup that teaches alternative farming technique raises millions for its platform to go global — see why it's sparking interest

A German company focused on regenerative agriculture has raised $22 million to take its business to the international market, TechCrunch reported.

Regenerative agriculture is a set of farming practices aimed at replenishing the soil and keeping the ecosystem healthy.

Traditional Western farming, which often involves repeatedly growing a single type of crop on the same land, depletes nutrients from the soil and eventually destroys it so that it is no longer useful for farming. The world has a limited supply of useful farmland, and destroying it could create a crisis for our food production system.

Regenerative agriculture makes it possible to grow abundant food on the same farmland without destroying it. It includes using organic fertilizer, planting cover crops, and adding natural soil amendments. These practices restore the soil to its nutrient-rich state and allow for more balanced and sustainable use of the land in the future.

German company Klim is helping farmers learn regenerative practices. Founded in 2020, it already serves 3,500 farmers on 700,000 hectares of land, amounting to 5% of Germany's farmland, according to TechCrunch.

Klim provides farmers with tools and education to convert their farms to regenerative agriculture in a gradual, low-risk way that takes into account their individual circumstances. This makes regenerative practices realistic and even helpful for farmers.

Another benefit is that it helps remove carbon dioxide pollution from the atmosphere. Right now, there's too much of this heat-trapping gas in the air, and it's heating the planet out of control. "Carbon farming" allows the ground to absorb that carbon dioxide. Fortunately, there's a lot of overlap between carbon farming and regenerative agriculture, as healthy, nutrient-rich soil absorbs more carbon.

Klim allows farmers to track how much carbon they're storing. "We do that with a mix of satellite data, soil samples, and primary data that the farmer has to put into the platform, which then all goes into a certified model. That quantifies the emission removals and reductions," said Klim CEO Robert Gerlach, per TechCrunch.

And it isn't just for bragging rights. Farmers can document and sell that storage capacity on Klim's marketplace, adding a revenue stream, TechCrunch explained.

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"What companies like Nestlé really need is reliability. Supply chains are degrading, meaning harvests are less predictable. This is really problematic for the food companies," Gerlach said, per TechCrunch.

Klim's tools offer a way forward that could benefit the whole world.

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