Munich-based GreenTech startup OCELL has secured €10 million in a Series A funding round to drive its expansion across Europe and further develop its AI-powered platform for creating high-quality carbon credits.
The round is led by venture capital investor Capnamic. Additional funding comes from Bayern Kapital. Existing investors AENU and Summiteer, as well as business angels like Max Viessmann, are also participating in the funding round.
David Dohmen, Co-founder and Co-CEO of OCELL said: “In recent years, the reputation of carbon credits has suffered significantly due to often inadequate data foundations, yet they remain a crucial tool in the fight against climate change – if implemented correctly. With OCELL, we aim to restore trust in the market by combining cutting-edge AI technology with nature-based solutions. Forests offer the advantage of being immediately available, scalable, and relatively cost-effective, while our technology ensures measurability, accuracy, and transparency. We are thrilled to have experienced partners like Capnamic and Bayern Kapital by our side, who have successfully supported numerous tech companies. The renewed investment from our existing investors further validates OCELL’s potential to become a key driver in transforming European forests.”
Founded in 2019 by Christian Decher, David Dohmen, and Felix Horvat, OCELL innovates in forestry software and analytics, enabling forest enterprises to manage their forests more sustainably and efficiently. Simultaneously, the technology serves as the foundation for the development of data-driven climate projects.
By processing aerial imagery, LiDAR, and terrestrial forestry data, OCELL uses artificial intelligence to create digital twins of forests. These digital twins provide insights into forest growth, current carbon storage capacity, and other metrics. This allows for the prediction and implementation of climate-optimised forest management strategies to store more carbon in the long term.
The forests currently managed with OCELL’s software, covering an area of more than 810,000 hectares, have the potential to store an additional 1.62 million tons of CO2 per year. With offtake agreements already secured for over 100,000 credits, OCELL looks to make a substantial contribution to sustainable forest management and climate action across Europe.
These credits support climate-optimised forest management, significantly increasing carbon storage in forests and promoting biodiversity as well as the urgently needed transformation of forests for greater climate resilience.
OCELL says that while forests play a crucial role in climate protection, they are severely threatened by the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events—four out of five trees are sick. Because of this, OCELL aims to become a driving force in transforming forestry by monetising the value of ecosystem services.
The newly raised capital will drive the advancements in OCELL’s underlying technology, fuel growth, and support the expansion of climate projects across Europe, with a focus on the Nordics and Baltics. Additionally, it will expedite the development of a platform to transparently track and showcase project progress and impact through live data.
Christian Knott, Managing Partner at Capnamic added: “The key differentiation of the OCELL team is their deep roots in forestry. They truly understand the daily challenges and decisions forest managers face. OCELL is not only providing them with a high-quality product but also creating an opportunity to diversify their revenue streams. At a time when the market is experiencing a major shift in regulation and transparency requirements, OCELL’s offering stands out. No other solution knows the forest as intimately, because they are actively helping forest owners to manage it. We are thrilled to support their acceleration and ambitious international growth ambition.”
Ferry Heilemann, founder and partner of existing investor AENU concluded: “We are big fans of the OCELL team. Their holistic forest management software and state-of-the-art primary data collection enables commercial forest owners globally to unlock high-quality carbon credits. Thus, increasing their profitability while storing more carbon on their land.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/01/e10-million-for-forests-ocell-secures-funding-to-scale-its-carbon-credit-technology/
