Startup Targets Agricultural Sector to Address Carbon Emissions in Supply Chains

The market has seen a proliferation of platforms dedicated to carbon accounting and managing emissions. Yet, when it comes to addressing emissions challenges, many startups have initially focused on what’s most easily attainable: direct emissions from operations that a business owns, known as “Scope 1” emissions within the climate sector vernacular. On the flip side, “Scope 2” emissions delve into the greenhouse gasses emanating from the energy consumption of a company. Combining Scopes 1 and 2, however, only covers approximately 25% of the planet’s total emissions. The lion’s share belongs to Scope 3 emissions, which lurk within supply chains, presenting significant hurdles for accurate tracking.

The focus is gradually shifting towards addressing these elusive supply chain emissions. A standout instance is Clearly, which recently secured a $4.3 million seed investment to address transportation-linked supply chain emissions.

A striking illustration of this issue is Nestlé, whose annual CO2 emissions of 113 million tons match the entire greenhouse gas emissions of Belgium, with over 107 million tons of those emissions stemming from its supply chain, as found here.

Investment is now flowing into niche areas of this ecosystem, including startups aimed at decarbonizing agricultural supply chains.

Root empowers food and beverage enterprises to gather key data directly from their agricultural supply chains. Launched in October 2023 by Eric Oancea and Maurice Hensl, RootOS has already onboarded clients ranging from dairy operations to fast-food franchises, though specific client names have yet to be disclosed. Currently, the platform benefits over 10,000 farmers.

Root has succeeded in raising an €8 million seed round. The round was led by Christoph Janz from Point Nine, with contributions from Project A, HelloWorld, Arc Investors, and other key figures in the startup arena, including P9’s Robin Dechant and Mike Rötgers, CTO of Cargo.one.

According to Root, its platform is utilized by sustainability and procurement departments within food companies to garner verified primary data through straightforward queries to farmers. Supplemental data necessary for calculating GHG emissions is then compiled from existing documentation and other resources.

Following this, Root analyzes the environmental impact of each product, allowing businesses to pinpoint emission hotspots throughout their supply chains.

Oancea has critiqued existing emissions-tracking solutions like Watershed, Sweep, and Normative for their generalist approaches, relying heavily on aggregate data and industry norms for emission estimations. He highlighted the significant variances that can occur in reality, emphasizing the need for specificity.

He advocates for a move away from generic software and consultancies reliant on broad market indicators towards more precise data collection directly from the supply chain, enabling finer analysis and informed decision-making.

Oancea pointed out the complexity within the supply chain, using the example of the various factors affecting CO2 emissions from suppliers to major brands like McDonald’s. These nuanced factors lead to vast discrepancies in emissions data between suppliers, underscoring the vital need for detailed data to drive impactful carbon reduction strategies.

Root’s technology, as explained by Oancea, aids sustainability and procurement leaders in major food firms in engaging directly with their suppliers, such as farmers, to gather actionable data. This integration enables a personalized emissions score for each supplier, painting an accurate picture of their environmental impact.

Currently serving the German-speaking DACH region and parts of Eastern Europe, Root has ambitions to broaden its reach across Europe in the coming year.