We chat with the co-founder of Tree.ly, on the back of their recent raise, and the founder of eOutdoors
Tree.ly built a market for forests, showcasing the opportunity to use markets to reduce inefficiencies and emissions. eOutdoors is an excellent example of the steps to drive cleantech adoption.
One of our core ideas has always been that any source of waste is a source of emissions, and that's why the emergence of new markets, such as Tree.ly, is exciting.
We also chat with the founder of eOutdoors, which highlights approaches to driving the adoption of low-emission technologies. This is a great one for our readers who are looking to build and grow their own cleantech businesses.
This is a different newsletter structure, but we’ve been lucky to meet great builders in the space through our community and want to share their stories. Please let us know what you think.
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Co-founder of Tree.ly, Christian Lutz
We recently heard from Christian Lutz, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Tree.ly. Tree.ly enables the implementation of climate protection projects in Austrian and European forests through regional partnerships with companies. Forest owners historically had to resort to higher emission use cases as an economic decision. Incentivizing them to maintain their existing forest instead of using it for agriculture, logging, etc., and creating a platform that reduces the friction when evaluating that option allows more forests to remain. Forests are an excellent sequestration option - with negligible capex/opex, and preserving existing ones through voluntary markets doesn’t cost taxpayers any money. There is a lot to like.
Christian is an experienced entrepreneur who has built and scaled innovative companies. He made it his mission to unlock forests' carbon sequestration potential through a data platform, thus driving active climate protection and enabling a sustainable future for our forests.
We were lucky that we were able to get the below within a few days of them announcing their recent raise, which will allow them to accelerate their mission further.
Tree.ly team
Illustration of the two-sided market
What was the genesis of the business?
“Tree.ly was born out of a passion for technology, entrepreneurship, and a deep commitment to leaving a positive legacy for future generations. As founders, we—Jodok Batlogg and myself—were driven by a quest to find impactful solutions to the pressing issue of climate change. Our journey led us to the forests right at our doorstep in the Austrian mountains, where we found the perfect answer: protecting and making these vital ecosystems more climate resilient and unlocking European forests' full potential through high-quality, scientifically validated carbon credits. Our background as data- and online-entrepreneurs helped us to build the technology and platform that we needed.”
How have you found adoption?
“On the forestry side, we have built on our extensive forestry & advisory team. Forest owners, who often witness the first-hand damage of climate change, face short-term economic pressures that hinder a transition to sustainable practices. Tree.ly offers an attractive alternative financing model, allowing these owners to receive investments for their forest projects. Our successful first year, where initial forest owners received funding, has built significant trust and credibility within the market.
Adoption has also been encouraging among companies committed to robust climate strategies. Our focus on transparency, local impact, and scientific validation has resonated well with corporations looking to move beyond mere compensation to genuine contributions to climate protection. The shift from offsetting to contributions aligns with the evolving expectations of stakeholders and regulatory frameworks.”
Illustration of owner benefits
What drives differences in economics for landowners?
“It is highly dependent on the forest owner, we look for example at forest size, type, stock management. For the landowners the new funding source allows them to safely invest into measures for a climate change resilient forests, while they still can produce timber with improved methods. Usually a forest owner can generate between 60 and 100 euro per hectare with funding through the sales of Tree.ly CO2-credits.”
Current example project detail below
Who pays for monitoring?
“Tree.ly covers all upfront and ongoing costs. The costs associated with monitoring are covered as part of our comprehensive service to ensure the integrity and credibility of our carbon credits. This monitoring process is critical to maintain transparency and trust among all stakeholders. We partner with TÜV, an independent third-party organization renowned for its global quality control expertise, to certify and audit our projects on an annual basis. TÜV's rigorous certification process ensures that our projects meet the highest standards of accuracy and reliability.”
Does more data result in better offset prices?
“Detailed and accurate data, especially also the documentation on actual measures implemented, enhance the credibility of carbon credits, making them more attractive to buyers who increasingly are looking for high quality and high integrity projects with verified and transparent credits. Data is the key-condition to be able to participate in the programs. This data-driven approach aligns with rigorous standards and builds trust in the market. Tree.ly is born out of the desire to create real climate impact rather than a race to the bottom with offsetting and low prices. We believe in fostering a market where quality and integrity drive value, ensuring meaningful contributions to global climate goals.”
What NBS markets are being utilized?
“Our projects are both removal and conservation based improved forest management solutions. This means we work with existing forest owners to enhance their carbon storage capacity by applying climate smart and sustainable management practices like for example selective harvesting, extended rotation periods and improving biodiversity.”
How have corporate partners considered risks, such as optics, financial, location-specific (fires, governments), etc.?
“The reputation risk of being associated with low-quality or non-verified projects is a big one. We have implemented many rules and backups to be able to manage the risk involved, from risk buffers to yearly monitoring, Tree.ly is also fully externally verified and all our projects are within the highest legal standards and the laws of the EU.”
Do you mostly have repeat corporate partners?
“Brokers still play a role in the market, particularly in connecting buyers and sellers, facilitating transactions, and providing market intelligence. We support resellers that directly retire credits to customers, however we do not support traders, hedge funds etc. We want to know the buyers. The Tree.ly platform allows a fully transparent and streamlined process and we aim to constantly increase transparency and reduce transaction costs.”
Where have you seen the most demand?
“We have seen the most demand from companies in Europe that are based near to the forest area’s we have under management. Particularly those in sectors with significant carbon footprints and strong sustainability commitments, such as manufacturing, and finance.”
How long are the deals?
“Our carbon buyer deals typically span 4 or more years, whereas the climate protection projects have a 30 year duration.”
What is the minimum scale for you to partner with a landowner and why?
“We generally partner with forest owners who have at least 500 hectares of forest. This scale allows us to achieve sufficient accuracy in stock assessments and ensures that the projects are economically viable. However, advancements in remote sensing technology are enabling us to consider smaller forests in the future.”
If you want to contact them because you think these tools would be a fit then please reach out to hello@tree.ly or visit their website at https://tree.ly/
Co-Founder of eOutdoors, Trevor Hayter
eOutdoors has distribution partnerships with major brands to drive the adoption of electric transport. This includes manufacturers in each respective category, including all eScooter, eMoto, eSurf, eSled, and, of course, all the different variations of eBikes.
Politicians and consumers underestimate all the distribution steps involved in getting top-quality, low-emissions products into consumers’ hands. Trevor runs a direct fleet business, retail business, and distribution business. We were lucky to hear from Trevor and recommend that people take a look at their partner product suite, as it will give you newfound excitement about the progress made in electric transport.
How did you start?
“Starting as a sales agency for 1 eBike brand in 2020, the opportunities for multiple consumer and commercial applications became quickly apparent. By 2022/23 we realized multiple gaps in the Canadian market limiting adoption and created a road map to fill those gaps. We now have developed a portfolio of electric products, partners software, and services to support B2B and consumer applications and through community engagement and development of our own retail brand, we can also assist our partners in engaging their market to drive adoption. We have a unique position in the market with experience that exceeds that of the traditional sales channels for bikes and other forms of personal transportation and recreation products.”
What has been the easiest and toughest part?
“The easiest part for us is being excited about the positive outcomes and opportunities for entrepreneurs, businesses, and end consumers. The toughest part has been figuring out the formula for driving engagement and adoption in all levels of the market (consumer, B2B, investment, etc) in a volatile and very young market in Canada.”
How have you found adoption?
“Adoption in Canada at a consumer level has been volatile following C19 due to market and supply chain issues over the last few years. This has driven a lack of brand loyalty and a level of apprehension in the consumer market. From a commercial adoption perspective we are starting to see more engagement and adoption and expect to see more going into 2025 as the overall market starts to stabilize.”
What is the rental model?
“We offer and promote multiple different rental models, tour opportunities, short term, long term, group, guided rentals and currently driving toward being able to offer short term and long subscriptions combined with IoT capabilities to improve the service delivery model, limit theft, improve safety and other beneficial outcomes in fleet management and maintenance scenarios.”
Take a look at eOutdoors if you think any of the above solutions might be a fit.
Impact Logic, a technical recruitment leader for impact-driven founders, sponsors our jobs section below. Reach out to them here as you look to fill critical roles.
Jobs (with a focus on the themes above) that are worth looking at today include
Project Manager, EV Infrastructure Solutions at AECON
Head of Projects – EV Charging Infrastructure at LeadingAhead Energy
Engineering, Service, and Operations roles at Rivian
Sales internships at Tree.ly
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