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What is HeavyFinance?
What inspired its creation?
HeavyFinance is a financial marketplace dedicated to empowering European SMEs, focusing on supporting farmers. Our mission is to bridge the financial gap that prevents farmers from adopting more sustainable, regenerative farming practices. By providing innovative financial products, we enable farmers to overcome obstacles to this crucial transition.
Operating across five markets, HeavyFinance currently serves over 2,000 clients. Our three core products are all designed to promote sustainability and regenerative farming. By making it easier for farmers to access the capital they need, we support them in improving both the health of their soil and the yield of their crops. This approach strengthens farming businesses and delivers significant environmental benefits, mainly through carbon sequestration.
Benefits
The Win-Win-Win of Regenerative Farming:
Regenerative farming is a win on multiple fronts. First, financial institutions providing capital to farmers benefit from meeting regulatory pressures related to impact investing. Second, farmers adopting regenerative practices see higher yields and a more resilient farm system. And third, there’s a significant environmental benefit: on average, every hectare of land farmed regeneratively sequesters 2.3 tonnes of CO2 annually. This means that farmers become vital players in the fight against climate change instead of being carbon emitters. This "win-win-win" dynamic is at the heart of everything we do.
The Science
The Science of Carbon Sequestration: How Big Is the Impact?
Our current data is based on 20,000 hectares of land managed by 75 farmers, with farm sizes varying significantly from 50 to several thousand hectares. Across this land, we’ve seen an average of 2.3 tonnes of CO2 sequestered per hectare yearly. However, the scale of impact depends on factors like soil type and farming practices. Key techniques such as no-till, strip-till, and minimal-till farming play a vital role, as do cover crops, which help enrich the soil and boost its carbon-capturing potential.
Today, we manage "assets" covering hundreds of thousands of hectares, so the potential for carbon sequestration is enormous. And the more land that switches to regenerative farming, the more significant the climate impact.
What Inspired HeavyFinance to Focus on Carbon Removal?
Our journey into carbon removal financing began with my colleague Violeta's simple but powerful question: "Can we finance farmers to transition to regenerative farming?" The more we explored it, the clearer it became that finance was the key to driving meaningful change. Every major transformation in history has required financial support, and we’re uniquely positioned to provide it.
While I’m not a climate scientist, I believe that solving significant challenges requires collaboration across industries. At HeavyFinance, we’ve combined financial expertise with agricultural and climate science to create a system that works for farmers, financiers, and the planet.
What Are the Tools and Strategies for Scaling Carbon Farming?
Scaling regenerative farming requires strategy and precision. We’ve implemented local teams, marketing efforts, and deep relationships with farmers in five key markets to grow our impact. Our approach begins with mapping farmers into three categories:
- Conventional farmers
- Farmers already practising regenerative farming
- Farmers interested in transitioning to regenerative methods
Once we identify the type of farmer we’re working with, we can offer tailored support. Our network and reputation help farmers trust us, and when they see the financial and environmental benefits on offer, they’re quick to sign up. Thanks to our local presence and the relationships we’ve built over time, scaling has been made easier.
Challenges
What Are the Biggest Challenges Facing Regenerative Farming?
The three biggest barriers to the widespread adoption of regenerative farming are:
- Education: Farmers need access to transparent, actionable information about the benefits and processes of regenerative farming. Without it, they’re less likely to make the transition.
- Capital: Farmers require financial support to cover the costs of new equipment, seeds, and potential short-term losses during the transition.
- Reputation Issues: Negative media coverage and scepticism about the integrity of carbon credits have created trust issues in the industry.
To address these barriers, HeavyFinance is launching a Regenerative Farming Academy. This digital platform will offer expert knowledge from global leaders in the field, translated into local languages and tailored to farmers' specific needs. By enabling farmers to learn from each other and world-class experts, we aim to foster a culture of shared knowledge and best practices.
Education: Where Should It Come From?
Farmers are much more tech-savvy than they’re often given credit for and hungry for knowledge that can improve their livelihoods. HeavyFinance is taking a proactive role in providing this education, but it’s clear that a multi-stakeholder approach is essential. Governments, financial institutions, and farming organisations all have roles to play in supporting this knowledge transfer.
Farmers need easy access to resources, localised information, and case studies that reflect their realities. Our Regenerative Farming Academy is one way we’re addressing this gap. Farmers don’t just learn from textbooks; they learn from experience—theirs and their neighbours’. By connecting farmers across regions, we’re fostering a global knowledge network.
Green Loans
How Do They Work?
Our most impactful financial product is the 0% interest Green Loan. Here’s how it works:
- A farmer interested in switching from conventional to regenerative farming applies for the loan.
- HeavyFinance provides up to €700 per hectare to cover equipment costs, working capital, or other transition needs.
- For example, a farmer with 200 hectares of land could receive a €150,000 interest-free loan.
- Once farmers transition to regenerative farming, they’re eligible for carbon credits, which can be monetized.
This loan is a win for farmers: They receive upfront capital at no interest, access additional revenue from carbon credits, and increase their farms' long-term profitability. Meanwhile, HeavyFinance’s "carbon credit" team manages the soil sampling and verification process to ensure the credits are genuine.
We have already issued over €9 million in Green Loans and are expanding through new partnerships with financial institutions.
How Do You Verify Carbon Sequestration?
Credibility is crucial in the carbon market, so we’ve committed to rigorous verification processes. Instead of relying on estimates or proxies, we prioritise direct soil sampling, which is the most reliable method of measuring carbon sequestration.
Here’s our approach:
- Physical Soil Sampling: We’ve collected over 10,000 soil samples to measure carbon changes directly directly. If the carbon content increases, we’re eligible for credits; if it doesn’t, we’re not.
- Data Collection: Farmers report data on boundaries, crop types, fertiliser use, fuel consumption, and cover crops. We cross-check this information with government data sources.
- Satellite Monitoring: Algorithms analyse satellite data to monitor field activities and ensure farmers stick to regenerative practices. If a farmer reverts to conventional tilling, we’ll know.
- Incentives for Permanence: Green Loans have built-in penalties for reverting to conventional practices, ensuring farmers stay on the regenerative path.
This rigorous, data-driven approach makes our carbon credits more credible, attracting more financial backers.
Why Soil-Based Carbon Capture Matters?
Unlike other carbon capture methods, soil-based carbon capture offers benefits beyond sequestration. Healthier soil requires less fertiliser, which means healthier food for consumers. By supporting local farmers, we also support local communities, creating jobs and bolstering rural economies.
The simplicity and scalability of soil-based solutions are key. Unlike forests (which can be lost to fires) or ocean-based methods (which are more challenging to control), soil is a vast, stable carbon sink. We focus exclusively on soil because it’s a proven solution with enormous untapped potential. For me, it’s one of the most impactful and straightforward ways to fight climate change.
Unbound Summits’ mission focuses on unrivalled connections, new insights and unbound CDR opportunities. You can find out more about HeavyFinance’s unique approach to supporting regenerative agriculture here.
