What Funga does

Funga, PBC is an Austin, Texas-based public benefit corporation founded in 2022 by Dr. Colin Averill, a former ETH Zürich forest microbiome researcher. The company reintroduces native, biodiverse soil fungal communities (particularly mycorrhizal fungi) to commercial forest plantations at the time of planting, with the goal of accelerating tree growth, improving forest resilience, and increasing aboveground carbon sequestration. Its technical stack combines high-throughput DNA sequencing of soil microbiomes with machine learning models that match region-specific inoculant prescriptions to individual plot characteristics; the company has catalogued over 63,691 unique fungal OTUs across thousands of soil samples in the Southeastern U.S.

Funga's commercial products center on the Southern Pine Carbon Project (a grouped carbon removal project across 12 U.S. states covering Loblolly pine timberland) and a landowner enrollment program that provides free fungal inoculation at commercial nurseries in partnership with PRT Growing Services (North America's largest forest seedling provider, producing 600M+ seedlings annually). Landowners retain ownership of incremental timber yield, receive potential seedling discounts at enrollment, and earn annual carbon lease payments starting in year three. Verified carbon removal credits generated under the program are sold to corporate buyers, with Netflix signed as the flagship customer in 2024 under an 11-year, multimillion-dollar contract. Funga co-developed Verra methodology M0274 with Conservation International, CTrees, and The Nature Conservancy, using randomized co-located control plots to rigorously quantify additional carbon removal.

The business model is a two-sided platform: a distributed base of 80+ private forest landowner partners on the supply side, and a concentrated pool of corporate carbon credit buyers on the demand side. Revenue comes from credit sales (transaction-based), while capital is deployed into nursery-stage inoculation, soil sampling, and data infrastructure. By 2025, cumulative enrollment had reached 28,000 acres with 12M+ seedlings inoculated in a single season and projected carbon removal of 5 million tonnes over the first five planting years. The company is venture-backed (~$9.1M disclosed across a 2023 seed and a 2024 round), with partnerships extending into forest restoration through Chestnut Carbon and the American Forest Foundation's Fields & Forests program.

Name

Funga

Legal name

Funga, PBC

Website

https://www.funga.earth/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Funga restores native fungal microbiomes in commercial forests to accelerate tree growth and carbon sequestration. It sells verified carbon removal credits to corporate buyers like Netflix while providing free nursery-stage inoculation to private forest landowners across the Southeastern United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nature-based Carbon Removal

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Forestry & Ecosystem Carbon Removal (Afforestation/Reforestation, Improved Forest Management) (EUABAFAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Soil Carbon & Regenerative Agriculture Removal (Soil Organic Carbon Credits) (EUABAFAG), Forestry, Land Use & REDD+ Programs (BPADALAF), Native Species & Restoration Plant Nurseries (AFAMADAF)

Keywords

• Forest microbiome restoration
• Fungal inoculation services
• Carbon removal credits
• Voluntary carbon markets
• Soil biodiversity analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Carbon Removal Credit Sales: Funga generates revenue by selling verified carbon removal credits on the voluntary carbon market. The company establishes partnerships with forest landowners, inoculates their seedlings, and the resulting additional carbon storage (measured via control plots) generates carbon credits that are sold to corporate buyers. The company co-developed a new Verra methodology for precise carbon measurement. Netflix is a major buyer via an 11-year, multimillion-dollar deal signed in 2024.
2. Carbon Lease Payments to Landowners: Landowners receive annual carbon lease payments starting in year three of the program. This creates a new revenue stream for landowners while Funga retains carbon credit sales rights. The payments incentivize landowner participation without requiring upfront capital from landowners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Funga restores native soil fungal microbiomes in commercial pine plantations by applying region-specific, whole-community fungal inoculants to seedlings at commercial nurseries (in partnership with PRT Growing Services). The company enrolls private forest landowner acreage into the Southern Pine Carbon Program, retains carbon credit rights, and sells the resulting verified carbon removal credits to corporate buyers with climate commitments.

Product overview

Funga is a public benefit corporation offering a suite of nature-based carbon removal solutions centered on soil microbiome restoration. The core offering is the Southern Pine Carbon Project, which combines fungal inoculation treatments applied at commercial nurseries with a carbon credit program for landowners. Supporting services include the Soil Sampling Program for property assessment and the Southern Pine Carbon Program for landowner enrollment. The company has also developed a proprietary Enhanced Forest Sequestration Methodology (M0274) with Verra for rigorous carbon measurement using control plots.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Southern Pine Carbon Project A grouped carbon removal project that partners with private forest landowners across the U.S. South to reintroduce native, growth-promoting soil fungi during replanting, accelerating forest growth to produce more wood and remove more carbon from the atmosphere. Sold primarily to corporate carbon buyers as verified carbon removal credits.
• Southern Pine Carbon Program (Landowner Enrollment) A landowner enrollment program that provides fungal inoculation at commercial tree nurseries, offering landowners potential seedling discounts, increased timber yields, and annual carbon lease payments starting in year three. Inoculation is provided at no upfront cost to the landowner.
• Soil Sampling Program A program in which professional foresters collect soil samples from landowner properties; samples are then analyzed to map soil fungal biodiversity and determine whether the property qualifies for the paid carbon partnership.
• Fungal Inoculation Treatment A proprietary treatment that reintroduces native, biodiverse fungal communities to pine seedlings at commercial nurseries, designed to improve tree growth and reduce reliance on artificial fertilizers.
• Enhanced Forest Sequestration Methodology (M0274) A new Verra methodology (M0274) developed in collaboration with Conservation International, CTrees, and The Nature Conservancy, using randomized co-located control plots for rigorous measurement of additional carbon removals in forest projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• Growth responses exceeding 100% in some locations when comparing inoculated vs. uninoculated plots
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major, minor and flagship.

• Conservation InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Conservation International partnered with Funga, CTrees, and The Nature Conservancy to co-develop a new Verra methodology (M0274) for forest carbon projects using co-located control plots. The methodology enables rigorous measurement of additional carbon removals using randomized controlled trial design. Expected approval in late 2026.
• The Nature ConservancycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026The Nature Conservancy was involved in developing VM0045 and partnered with Funga to expand methodologies for natural climate solutions. Currently co-developing the new Verra methodology (M0274) for forest carbon projects with control plot baselines.
• CTreescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026CTrees partnered with Funga and Conservation International on the new Verra methodology development. CTrees faces similar challenges establishing carbon projects in the tropics using VM0045 and sees the control plot approach as a solution.
• American Forest FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025AFF's Fields & Forests project empowers owners of underused agricultural land to access climate finance and establish new forests with restored soil biodiversity. Funga and AFF are launching a collaborative project converting 1,000 acres of underused land into carbon-storing forestland with biodiverse soil microbes.
• Chestnut CarbonmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Chestnut Carbon develops nature-based carbon removal solutions restoring U.S. forests. The partnership involves planting over 300,000 Funga-inoculated trees in the Southeast during the upcoming pine planting season. Chestnut integrates Funga's soil restoration with their holistic forest restoration approach for degraded agricultural lands.
• PRT Growing ServicescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2025PRT (including IFCO) is North America's largest forest seedling provider, growing more than 600 million seedlings annually. Funga partners with PRT to inoculate seedlings at commercial nurseries at scale. The partnership combines PRT's best-in-class seedlings with Funga's region-specific fungal inoculations.
• Western Pennsylvania ConservancyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Collaboration with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Bosland Growth to install a trial at a forest restoration project on a former gravel mine in Pennsylvania.
• NetflixflagshipOthers · 1 January 2024Netflix signed an 11-year, multimillion-dollar carbon removal deal with Funga in 2024 as the company's first major commercial contract. Netflix is purchasing biodiversity-boosting carbon credits from the Southern Pine Carbon Project.
• Forest Productivity CooperativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFPC is a research cooperative focused on forest productivity. Funga is a member and collaborates with FPC on research and data sharing related to forest health and growth outcomes.
• Plantation Management Research CooperativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPMRC at University of Georgia conducts research on plantation forest management. Funga is a member and collaborates on research initiatives.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Chestnut Carbon: Nature-based carbon removal developer restoring degraded U.S. forests through afforestation and improved land management. Directly comparable to Funga: Chestnut is a buyer/partner (planted 300,000+ Funga-inoculated trees) and operates in the same Southeast U.S. forest carbon project category with landowner enrollment, reforestation, and corporate carbon credit sales.
• Mast Reforestation: Reforestation company combining native seedling production (including free seedlings for landowners) with forest carbon project development in the U.S. Closely comparable to Funga in business model—landowner enrollment, nursery-level seedling provisioning, and corporate carbon credit sales in the U.S. forestry sector.
• NCX (Natural Capital Exchange): Forest carbon marketplace connecting private landowners with corporate carbon buyers for U.S. forest management-based credits. Comparable to Funga in targeting private forest landowners (including small family owners) and selling nature-based forest carbon credits to enterprise buyers, with overlapping GTM in the Southeast.
• Terraset: Forest carbon project developer focused on enrolling small and mid-sized U.S. family forest owners into high-integrity carbon programs. Comparable to Funga in customer segment (private non-industrial forest landowners), revenue model (corporate carbon credit sales), and emphasis on credit quality.
• Forest Carbon Works: Developer of nature-based forest carbon projects in the U.S., working with private landowners and tribes to generate verified carbon credits. Comparable to Funga in business model (landowner enrollment + Verra-registered forest carbon credits sold to corporate buyers) and U.S. forest focus.
• Watershed: Enterprise carbon accounting and reduction platform that helps companies measure emissions and purchase high-quality nature-based carbon credits, including forestry projects. Comparable to Funga on the demand side—Watershed is a potential channel/customer for Funga's credits within its corporate buyer portfolio.

Others

• Pachama: Carbon monitoring and verification platform that uses satellite and AI to monitor nature-based carbon projects, including forestry. Comparable to Funga as an adjacent ecosystem enabler—Pachama is more of a buyer/MRV partner than a direct competitor, but both sell into the same corporate carbon procurement market.
• Sylvera: Independent ratings provider for voluntary carbon credits, including forestry and nature-based projects. Comparable to Funga indirectly—Sylvera's ratings influence pricing and demand for credits like those Funga issues, making it a market infrastructure participant rather than a direct competitor.

Emerging players

• Veritree: Reforestation-tracking and verification platform that connects planting organizations with corporate sponsors and tracks tree survival via on-the-ground data. Partially comparable to Funga on the forest restoration and corporate-sponsorship side, though Veritree focuses more on monitoring and project aggregation than inoculation science.

Broad incumbents

• South Pole: Large, established climate solutions provider offering carbon credit development, advisory, and corporate carbon procurement across forestry, agriculture, and renewables globally. Comparable to Funga in selling forest carbon credits to enterprise buyers but with a far broader portfolio and incumbency in the voluntary market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Funga_PBC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/funga-pbc
• Instagraminstagram.com/funga_pbc
• Xx.com/fungapbc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Funga