Komaza, Kenya’s sustainable forestry start-up, has secured $28 million in Series B equity financing. Komaza says this investment round was led by Novastar Ventures in collaboration with Novastar LPs AXA Investment Managers (through the AXA Impact Fund: Climate & Biodiversity), and the Dutch development bank FMO, with further participation by Mirova’s Land Degradation Neutrality Fund.
The latest funding will accelerate its goal of planting one billion trees by 2030 benefitting more than 2 million farmers in Sub Saharan Africa. In addition, it will expand from its first site on Kenya’s coast to two additional sites across East Africa.
The funds will also be directed towards additional wood manufacturing facilities to expand its line of high quality, sustainable building materials and add a new direct-to-farmer app to drive enrollment and increase farmer access to best practices.
The firm has collaborated with 25,000 small scale farmers to date having planted over 6 million trees. Komaza’s micro forestry model utilizes distributed partnerships with local farmers thus unlocking more land for forestry services. The startup utilizes AI and satellite data to map existing tree growth and real-time mobile apps on the ground to track farmer progress thus eliminating management complexities occasioned by distributed operations.
The firm intends to tackle climate change through a conservation approach that safeguards livelihoods, promotes economic growth and promotes the role of forestry as a natural solution to mitigate climate change.
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