Climate Tech specialist HeavyFinance closes 3M EUR seed funding round

23 March 2023

London, 23rd March – HeavyFinance, a climate tech investment marketplace for the agricultural industry, has successfully raised €3 million during its seed funding round, led by VC firm Practica Capital.

HeavyFinance is a European Fintech tackling the climate crisis, providing financing and loan schemes for companies in the sustainable agriculture sphere, with the goal of removing 1 gigaton of CO2 emissions by 2050.

The investment will help the company continue their European expansion, currently operating in Poland, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria, with ambitious plans to nearly double its current headcount of 33 staff over the next 12 months.

HeavyFinance will also use the funding to accelerate the switch from conventional farming to regenerative practices, to enrol 200,000 hectares of regenerative farmland as part of a carbon farming initiative, and create direct access for businesses looking to offset their carbon footprint.

After a successful seed round, HeavyFinance is ready to continue its expansion in the European marketplace, delivering sustainable climate investments to even more investors. Operating in additional markets and expanding our investor suite is an important step in the company’s growth and the development of new products and schemes, alongside bringing in industry experts to support our journey will be a priority over the coming months. Tackling climate change must be a united effort, and with almost a third of global greenhouse emissions coming from agricultural products, HeavyFinance is here to lead the charge in the agricultural sector. Food growth plays a vital part in the climate battle as a prominent global issue, and connecting investors with farmers and agricultural specialists through our finance platform can help accelerate the adoption of regenerative soil management practices to reduce carbon emissions output throughout Europe.

Laimonas Noreika, Founder of HeavyFinance

HeavyFinance’s financing supports soil health and maintenance in order to reduce emissions from machinery fossil fuel combustion, remove CO2 from the atmosphere through the biogeochemical pressures of plants, reduce N2O pollution from excessive fertiliser application, improve biodiversity, and help farms become resilient to the effects of climate change such as draughts and high temperatures.

The company has built an underlying infrastructure to score the borrowing capabilities of farmers and agricultural operators to facilitate transactions and administer loans more effectively.

HeavyFinance team is committed to transforming the traditional agricultural lending marketplace by incentivizing farmers to adopt sustainable and regenerative farming practices by providing them access to the necessary capital. By connecting farmers in Europe directly and introducing a proprietary soil-based carbon credit methodology, we anticipate creating a new channel for downstream corporates to offset their carbon credits and stimulating institutional capital investments in the green sector.”

Arvydas Bložė, Partner at Practica Capital

HeavyFinance was founded by Laimonas Noreika, a serial entrepreneur, in June 2020. As a leading venture capital firm operating in the Baltic Sea Region, we at Black Pearls VC are proud to have played an important role in financing this innovative agricultural company. We decided to lead the pre-seed funding round in 2021, recognizing the company's innovative approach to financing the agricultural sector and helping them expand into the Polish market. The exceptional team and their dedication to creating new financial instruments for sustainable farming and battling against climate change convinced us to make a follow-on investment in their seed round led by Practica Capital. We are truly honored to be a part of their journey and eagerly anticipate their continued impact on the agricultural sector.

About HeavyFinance

HeavyFinance is in business of removing 1 gigaton of CO2 emissions through agricultural financing. The company operates as a marketplace connecting investors - from retail to institutional - with European farmers in need of external financing to expand their farms and shift to regenerative agriculture. HeavyFinance facilitated financing to more than 1.000 agricultural ventures in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal.

About Practica Capital

Practica Capital is an early-stage VC dedicated to backing Baltic founders. The firm has been invested exclusively in tech potential in the Baltic States for the last 10 years. Practica Capital back great founders in their ambition in seed, selected pre-seed and A stages and partnering with them as company builders. Practica Capital manages four funds with more than €80m in AUM. To date the firm made over 50 investments, including great companies like PVcase, TransferGo, Interactio, Eneba, Ovoko, Montonio, CGtrader and others. Find out more: https://practica.vc

About Black Pearls VC

Black Pearls VC is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on supporting the leading tech companies from the Baltic Sea Region. It invests in early-stage with a typical ticket of anywhere between €100k - €1m. Black Pearls VC is a part of the Kauffman Fellows, a global network of +500 leading VCs.