Adam Neumann (co-founder of Wework) is behind a brand new crypto project, Flowcarbon. The project raised $70 million from a small group of investors on Tuesday. Andreessen Horowitz led the project. Flowcarbon’s chief executive Dana Gibber says the project’s efforts provide a “brilliant financial mechanism that creates a counterbalancing incentive to reforest, revitalize and protect nature.”
Adam Neumann Backs Crypto Project Flowcarbon to Raise $70 Million
According to Tuesday’s announcement, a project that Adam Neumann, co-founder of Wework, backed raised $70million from strategic investors. Neumann, who was the co-founder of Wework and a former executive at the company, is controversial because it wasn’t possible to turn a profit in 2019. Neumann resigned as CEO after Wework submitted an S-1 file in September 2019. Flowcarbon was a joint venture that Neumann and his wife Rebekah co-founded along with Dana Gibber, Ilan Star, Carolina Klatt.
Flowcarbon is all about fixing the global climate crisis and calls itself a “pioneering climate technology company working to build market infrastructure in the voluntary carbon market (VCM).” It aims to tokenize the carbon credit industry and the company raised $70 million in venture capital and from the private sale of its carbon-backed token. The company announcement notes that Flowcarbon’s financing was led by Andreessen Horowitz’s subsidiary A16z crypto unit.
Invesco Private Capital and General Catast participated in the funding round. Fifth Wall, Celo Foundation, Box Group all invested in the token sales. This company converts carbon credits from the Celo blockchain into tokens known as goddess nature token (GNT). The goal is to make the carbon credit voluntary but also “more transparent, liquid and accessible,” according to the website’s summary.
On Tuesday, Flowcarbon’s announcement notes:
Flowcarbon’s mission is to drive billions of dollars directly to projects that reduce or remove carbon from the atmosphere by creating the first open protocol for tokenizing live, certified carbon credits from projects around the globe.
A16z General Partner Says Flowcarbon ‘Is a New Economic Flywheel for Sustainability’
The CEO of Flowcarbon, Dana Gibber, explained there are “powerful economic incentives to destroy and degrade critical natural landscapes around the world.” However, a VCM like Flowcarbon’s could counterbalance those incentives, according to Gibber. In addition to Flowcarbon’s financing announcement, Andreessen Horowitz’s (A16z) Arianna Simpson published a blog post about A16z investing in Flowcarbon. Simpson said that the Flowcarbon project unlocks “a new economic flywheel for sustainability.” The general partner at Andreessen Horowitz who invests in crypto further remarked:
ERC20 tokens are available for purchase backed by certified carbon credits from projects that restore and protect nature.
Flowcarbon’s funding round, led by A16z and the handful of other investors, racked up a total of $32 million. GNT (the goddess nature token) was the remainder of $70 million. Flowcarbon’s website says GNT is 1:1 backed as “each GNT token is backed by 1 carbon credit from a carbon removal or reduction project.” Every carbon credit retains “real-world value” and the company claims they are “certified by the leading carbon credit issuers.”
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