USA – San Francisco-based food-tech startup, Planet FWD has raised US$2.7 million in a seed funding led by BBG Ventures to expand its regenerative food platform.

The seed funding also saw additional participation from Cleo Capital, Maveron, Kapor Capital, Incite Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Jane VC and F7 Ventures.

Planet FWD is building a regenerative food platform to satisfy and grow consumer demand for climate-friendly food products and ensure that farmers are valued for their work as stewards of the land.

Taking on climate change, the food-tech startup is making it easier to bring climate-friendly foods to market through its regenerative ingredient platform.

“Farmers are at the front line of the climate crisis and their practices have the power to not only reduce carbon emissions in the food system but also draw down carbon into the soil and the above-ground biomass,” says Julia Collins, Founder, and CEO of Planet FWD.

“Decades of destruction to our ecosystems have placed the global community in a difficult situation: successfully limiting climate change while feeding the world. At Planet FWD, we believe both are possible.

“One of the most tactically viable and commercially scalable solutions lies in regenerative agriculture.”

The startup notes that industrialization and commodification of food over the last century have resulted in releasing carbon from soils, reducing nutrient density in food and depleting the ability of the land to continue to support agriculture.

According to the Special Report on Climate Change and Land from the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), agriculture emits about 25% of global greenhouse-gas pollution every year.

While there is no silver bullet to the climate crisis, Planet FWD believes that regenerative agriculture has the potential reduce the emission by sequestering carbon in the soil.

Recognizing the role of soil in renewing the world’s food system, Planet FWD is therefore using regenerative agriculture – a set of principles that support and regenerate healthy ecosystems – to bringing climate-friendly foods to market.

The startup has developed a two-fold program that integrates climate-friendly snacks and regenerative ingredients platform.

Acknowledging the enduring demand for snacks and interest in sustainably-sourced products, Planet FWD is introducing one of the first explicitly climate focused snack brands.

The company says that the product will be sourced from regenerative ingredients to reduce carbon emissions in the food system and promote carbon-capturing farming practices.

In addition, the startup said that it will closely monitor consumer response from the snack brand to inform their regenerative ingredient platform, which enhances visibility to the food system for companies who want to make climate-friendly choices.

According to the company, the platform does so by connecting brands and consumers hungry for climate-smart products to farmers and suppliers using regenerative or climate-smart practices.

“We’re grateful to work with an esteemed selection of investors that recognize this and are aligned with our strategies to turn back the clock on climate change,” Julia said.