Klim: This app rewards farmers who fight against climate change

by time news

Dhe farmer Phillip Krainbring has had to deal with extreme drought on his 350 hectare arable land in the past. In order to protect himself against this, he began to treat his field in a more environmentally friendly way – and to reduce the use of chemical agents.

Even if it makes the soil more resistant to climatic changes in the long term: Restoring the health of the soil produces costs that are not insignificant, according to the farmer in an interview with “Gründerszene”. In order not to be left with the costs alone, he uses the app from the Berlin start-up Klim.

The company, founded in 2020, has built a platform to financially support Bauer in pursuing regenerative agriculture. This means that they cultivate their soil in such a way that it retains its fertility. Because farmers often leave their fields fallow because, among other things, there is less work, explains co-founder Nina Mannheimer.

Adiv Maimon, Nina Mannheimer and Robert Gerlach (from left) got to know each other through the network of Foodlabs

Source: Klim

“Alternative cultivation methods do not play a major role in training as a farmer,” says farmer Krainbring. Therefore, as a kind of knowledge platform, the app provides information in the first step on how farmers can cultivate their soil in a more environmentally friendly way.

This includes countless methods, all of which promote the build-up of organic substances humus, which can store large amounts of CO₂ in the soil. One measure is the cultivation of catch crops. These are plants that are supposed to help the soil store CO₂. With the app, farmers can document their progress with pictures and blog entries – and get in touch with other farmers.

Farmers receive an expense allowance

In a second step, Klim also offers financial incentives for those who implement such environmentally friendly methods. Once a year, farmers are therefore paid a sum of money as a kind of expense allowance. The prices are based, among other things, on the size of the area on which flower strips or catch crops are grown.

The amount of carbon that is bound by the methods is also included in the amount of the remuneration. In addition, the amount paid out depends on the CO₂ price. The start-up generates the money for the farmers from amounts that companies transfer to Klim in order to offset their CO₂ footprint.

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So far, several companies have paid into the compensation program. Including the baker chain Die Lohner’s, which operate in some Rewe and nett branches. The Munich start-up Good Crop, which sells grain and pulses, is also a customer. The start-up is financed through license fees from companies like Good Crop, which print the Klim seal on their products.

Foodlabs believes the business model

In January of this year, Klim raised one million euros in a seed financing round. Investors include Ananda Impact Ventures, Wi Venture, Gemüsering and Blue Impact Ventures. The venture capitalist Foodlabs also went along as a founding investor. As part of a pre-seed round that took place a few months earlier, Foodlabs has already invested EUR 200,000 in the start-up.

Together with Foodlabs, Robert Gerlach, Nina Mannheimer and Adiv Maimon founded their start-up Klim in August 2020. Gerlach previously built up the company Threebility. The company develops tools that companies can use to produce more sustainably.

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Before joining the creative agency AKQA and Airbnb, Mannheimer built up the start-up Dalou, a breakfast and lunch delivery service in Zurich. Maimon, on the other hand, was involved in founding a tutoring startup for medical professionals in South Africa.

Almost 850 farmers on the app

Klim currently has 16 employees. 850 farmers are registered in the start-up’s app. According to Mannheimer, 87 users actively use the environmentally friendly methods. Since the platform was launched in April this year, the CO₂ price has risen to around 30 euros per tonne of CO₂ saved.

In the long term, the founding trio are aiming for a CO₂ price for companies of 80 euros, says Mannheimer. And the more farms pay into the compensation program, the more money can be paid out to the farmers.

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It is true that farmers like Krainbring save money in the medium and long term because they need less pesticides and fertilizer, says founder Nina Mannheimer. Nonetheless, the transition to environmentally friendly agriculture is a task for society as a whole.

Klim should help to share the costs accordingly – between farmers, grocers and consumers. “After all, climate change affects us all,” says the founder.

This text comes from a cooperation with the magazine “Gründerszene”. Click on the links, leave welt.de and land in the articles at gruenderszene.de.

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