Seed22 February 2023

Kita secures £4m in seed funding led by Octopus Ventures to launch carbon insurance products.

Octopus Ventures led the oversubscribed seed round alongside participants including Insurtech Gateway and Chaucer Group.

£4.0MSeed

Kita is a carbon insurance specialist operating within the voluntary carbon markets. The firm develops risk management products designed to safeguard the quality and performance of carbon removal purchases.

Carbon insurance specialist Kita has secured £4m in a seed funding round led by Octopus Ventures. The financing was supported by existing backers Insurtech Gateway, Carbon13 and Climate VC, alongside new participants Chaucer Group and Hartree Partners.

The capital will be deployed to launch the company's inaugural offering, Carbon Purchase Protection Cover, which insures buyers against carbon delivery risk. In addition, the funds will support team expansion, the scaling of underlying risk modelling technology, and broader regional development.

Established in late 2021, Kita has previously secured regulatory approval from the FCA and achieved coverholder status at Lloyd's of London. The latest injection aims to facilitate greater capital flows into voluntary carbon markets by mitigating transactional uncertainties.

Investor perspective

"Carbon removal plays a critical role in the fight against climate change and there is a pressing need to scale these technologies at an unprecedented size and pace. Insurance is essential to enable this rate of growth by de-risking investments into carbon removal solutions and building in incentives that increase the supply of high-quality carbon credits in the market. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Kita in bringing 'first of its kind' carbon insurance solutions to market to help unlock billions of dollars of investment into the space, increase transparency in the Voluntary Carbon Market, and fight the climate crisis."

Natasha Jones

Octopus Ventures