Arkea Bio, a pioneer in developing technology to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agricultural sector, today announced the successful close of a $12 million Seed Series financing round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV).
On-farm methane emissions from the world's 1+ billion cattle are responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to the worldwide emissions from passenger vehicles. ArkeaBio, a BEV incubated company, was founded on the premise that a simple vaccine could be a powerful tool in fighting climate change. ArkeaBio is developing an innovative vaccine to drastically reduce methane emissions from ruminant animals (including cattle, sheep, and goats) and expects ruminant vaccinations to be one of the most scalable and cost-effective solutions to rapidly decarbonize global meat and dairy production. These funds, and the ArkeaBio partnership with BEV, will enable the company to rapidly accelerate its research program and will position ArkeaBio as a leader in the global effort to decarbonize the agricultural sector.
"BEV's investment in ArkeaBio provides the opportunity to address agricultural emissions reductions in a manner that is safe, cost effective, and executable at large scale using traditional agronomic practices," said Colin South, ArkeaBio Chief Executive Officer. "We are embracing the opportunity to work with the most committed investor in the climate sector to enact rapid and meaningful progress in the urgent issue of reducing global agricultural GHG emissions."
"The last few years have shown that vaccines can be both scalable and cost-effective, furthering our belief that vaccines can be a critical tool when applied to the fight against climate change," said Chris Rivest, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. "With its proven scientific team and methane emissions reduction technology, we believe ArkeaBio has the potential to redefine the agriculture industry's environmental footprint."