TerraCarbon

What TerraCarbon does

TerraCarbon LLC is a US-based advisory firm founded in 2006 that provides fee-for-service consulting for the development, validation, and monitoring of carbon offset projects based on natural climate solutions (forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands). The firm serves mission-aligned clients including leading conservation NGOs (The Nature Conservancy, American Forest Foundation, Carbon Tanzania, Conservation International, WWF, Mercy Corps), government agencies (Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife Service, World Bank BioCarbon Fund, Restore America's Estuaries), corporates (Indigo Ag, CIBO, EcoPlanet Bamboo, BTG Pactual), and academic institutions, delivering end-to-end support from feasibility assessment through project registration and ongoing MRV. The firm's core technology centers on carbon accounting methodology authorship and applied geospatial science: it has co-authored 13+ methodologies and tools shaping the voluntary carbon market, including VM0042 (Improved Agricultural Land Management), VM0045 (dynamic Improved Forest Management), VM0047 (ARR), a first-of-its-kind Pocosin Wetlands methodology, and a novel biodiversity impact measurement framework for REDD projects, supported by remote sensing, dynamic global monitoring systems, soil carbon MRV, and forest inventory design capabilities.

TerraCarbon monetizes exclusively through professional services fees — explicitly declining to take equity or credit ownership in the projects it advises — and distributes services via direct enterprise consulting engagements. The firm is co-led by Managing Director Scott Settelmyer (former Chicago Climate Exchange CFO, 15+ years in carbon markets) and Director/CTO David Shoch (Master of Forestry from Duke, 20+ years of NCS expertise, formerly TNC and Winrock), supported by ~18 named specialists across geospatial analysis, agricultural lands, blue carbon, forestry, and operations functions with credentials from Clark, Yale, Duke, Ohio State, and other research institutions. The company holds B Corp certification (since 2012), is recognized as a Verra Activity Data Provider (alongside Clark University), and has earned consecutive Best for the World B Corp (Environment) recognition. Operations span two US offices (Peoria, IL headquarters and Charlottesville, VA) with project footprints across North America, East Africa (Tanzania), South America (Ecuador), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines), Oceania (Papua New Guinea), and West Africa (The Gambia, Guinea), and cumulative outcomes of 40-48 supported projects covering ~5 million acres and 50-55 million tCO2e of verified emissions reductions.

Name

TerraCarbon

Legal name

TerraCarbon LLC

Website

https://terracarbon.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

TerraCarbon is a US-based advisory firm founded in 2006 that provides fee-for-service consulting for carbon offset project development across forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands. It serves conservation NGOs, government agencies, corporates, and communities with methodology development, project design, validation, and monitoring support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Carbon Advisory and Environmental Consulting

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Support Activities for Forestry (1153)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Carbon Accounting, Verification & Registry Services (MRV, Audits, Certification) (IMAMAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regenerative Agriculture & Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) (EUABABAE), Soil & Biomass Carbon Measurement (Soil Sampling, Forest Inventory, Blue Carbon) (EUABACAH), GHG Monitoring Plans & Sampling Design (Field Protocols, QA/QC) (EUABACAE), Carbon Market & Policy Advisory (Compliance Schemes, ETS Design, Article 6) (EUABADAA)

Keywords

• Carbon offset advisory
• Natural climate solutions
• Forest carbon consulting
• Carbon methodology development
• Blue carbon advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Peoria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: TerraCarbon operates under a traditional fee-for-service consulting model. They provide advisory services for carbon offset project development from early inception stage through project registration and ongoing monitoring. The company explicitly does not take equity ownership or credit ownership in the projects they advise, positioning them as independent advisors focused on rigorous GHG accounting and market integrity.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

TerraCarbon is an advisory firm that provides consulting services to support the development of carbon offset projects that fund natural climate solutions across forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands. The firm offers end-to-end services from project feasibility assessment and methodology development through project design, validation, registration, and ongoing monitoring and verification. It operates on a fee-for-service basis without taking equity or credit ownership in the projects it advises.

Product overview

TerraCarbon is a leading advisory firm offering a comprehensive suite of consulting services for developing carbon offset projects that fund natural climate solutions. The company provides end-to-end support from project feasibility through registration and ongoing monitoring, including Project Feasibility Assessment, Project Design and Validation Support, Project Monitoring and Verification Support, Methodology Development, and Research and Analysis. TerraCarbon has developed specialized methodologies for Improved Agricultural Land Management (VM0042), Afforestation/Reforestation/Revegetation (ARR), and Improved Forest Management (VM0045), and supports specific project types including Pocosin Wetland Restoration, REDD+ Projects in Tanzania, Blue Carbon/Tidal Marsh Restoration, and the Family Forest Carbon Program. The company also co-developed the Blue Carbon Cost Tool (BCCT) for investment prioritization. TerraCarbon operates under a fee-for-service consulting model without taking equity or credit ownership in projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Carbon Offset Project Advisory Services
• Pocosin Wetland Restoration Project
• REDD+ Projects (Makame Savannah and Ntakata Mountains)
• Blue Carbon and Tidal Marsh Restoration Services
• VM0042 Improved Agricultural Land Management Methodology
• Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP)
• Blue Carbon Cost Tool (BCCT)
• VM0047 ARR Methodology

Quantifiable outcome

• 5 million+ acres of land restored, managed, or protected; 50+ million tons CO2e reduced across 40+ projects globally
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered secondary and core.

• Blue Catalyst FundsecondaryOthers · 18 June 2026TerraCarbon participates as an advisory partner in the Blue Catalyst Fund, a new accelerator jointly managed by Fair Carbon and Finance Earth supporting mangrove restoration projects in The Gambia and Guinea. The fund addresses early-stage financing gaps in blue carbon.
• UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate ResiliencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 April 2026Co-development partner for Coastal Resilience Asset Methodology (approved by Verra SD VISta) quantifying flood protection value of mangroves and tidal marshes. TerraCarbon is one of multiple partners including IH Cantabria and East Carolina University working with The Nature Conservancy.
• The Nature ConservancycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing strategic partner for methodology development and project implementation. Collaborations include pocosin wetland restoration methodology, improved forest management methodologies (VM0045), Family Forest Carbon Program, scientific research (natural climate solutions studies in PNAS and Science Advances), and blue carbon initiatives including the Coastal Resilience Asset Methodology. Multiple joint publications and award recognition.
• American Forest FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development of VM0045 dynamic Improved Forest Management methodology for the Family Forest Carbon Program, enabling family forest owners (30-2,000 acres) to participate in carbon markets. TerraCarbon continues to support AFF with documentation, monitoring, and verification for the grouped VCS project.
• Carbon TanzaniacoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSocial enterprise partner for community-based forest conservation in Tanzania. TerraCarbon designed and prepared documentation for Makame Savannah (100,000+ hectares) and Ntakata Mountains (200,000+ hectares) REDD projects registered with VCS and CCB. Ongoing support includes annual monitoring reports and additional credit issuance.
• Indigo AgcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to develop VM0042 Improved Agricultural Land Management methodology quantifying soil carbon outcomes from regenerative agriculture practices. Methodology subsequently modified by Climate Action Reserve as Soil Enrichment Protocol.
• CIBO TechnologiessecondaryImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerImplementation partner working with TerraCarbon to implement VM0042 methodology for generating agricultural carbon credits for farmers in the U.S. and abroad.
• SilvestrumsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment partner for ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation, Revegetation) methodology VM0047 with dynamic baseline approach, simplified census-based approach for small projects, and new leakage accounting methods.
• Clark UniversitysecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelected together as Verra Activity Data Providers, collecting jurisdictional deforestation data for allocation to VCS projects. Clark University is the only academic institution on the roster, providing remote sensing and geographic information science expertise.
• VerracoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership for methodology development and project registration. TerraCarbon has co-authored 13+ methodologies and tools with Verra, serves as Activity Data Provider, and Managing Director Scott Settelmyer serves on the SD VISta Nature Framework Advisory Group.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Winrock International: Global nonprofit implementing forestry, climate, and community development projects with carbon components. Comparable to TerraCarbon in nature-based project development but at much larger scale and with implementation (not just advisory) capabilities.
• Climate Action Reserve: Major U.S. voluntary carbon registry that adopted TerraCarbon-style work (e.g., its Soil Enrichment Protocol was derived from VM0042). Both a partner and a competitive incumbent for project registration and methodology approval.
• Verra: Operator of the Verified Carbon Standard and SD VISta — the registry within which most TerraCarbon methodologies sit. Both a critical partner and a structural incumbent whose standards decisions shape TerraCarbon's addressable market.

Emerging players

• CIBO Technologies: Ag-tech platform for regenerative agriculture carbon programs and MRV. An implementation partner of TerraCarbon on VM0042 and a direct competitor for agricultural carbon project delivery to farmers.
• Sylvera: Carbon credit ratings and analytics platform that uses satellite data and ML to assess project quality. Adjacent to TerraCarbon's geospatial/MRV capabilities but positioned on the buy-side ratings rather than the project-development side.
• Pachama: Tech-enabled carbon marketplace leveraging satellite monitoring and ML to connect buyers to nature-based projects. Overlaps with TerraCarbon's geospatial/MRV capabilities and competes for the same nature-based buyer demand.
• Indigo Ag (Carbon/Indigo Verified): Strategic co-development partner of TerraCarbon on VM0042 and one of the largest commercial operators of agricultural carbon programs in the U.S. — both a partner and a competitive channel to farmers seeking carbon revenue.

Direct peers

• 3Degrees: Climate advisory and carbon project developer providing renewable energy and nature-based carbon solutions to corporate buyers. Comparable consulting-driven project development model with similar buyer relationships.
• South Pole Group: Large global carbon advisory and project developer that designs, develops, and manages nature-based and tech-based carbon projects for corporate and government buyers. Closest direct competitor to TerraCarbon's fee-for-service advisory model across forestry, agriculture, and blue carbon.
• Carbon Growth Partners: Independent carbon advisory firm supporting NCS project development, methodology design, and verification. Highly comparable to TerraCarbon as a boutique consultancy operating across forestry and land-use carbon projects.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/terracarbon-llc
• Xx.com/terracarbonllc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 TerraCarbon