Cultivo, a platform focused on developing and operating natural assets at scale, has announced that renewable energy investor Octopus Energy Generation will increase its capital deployment to $100 million to support grasslands regeneration and carbon removal projects in the United States and other markets.
The partnership was first announced in January 2024, when Octopus Energy Generation provided Series A funding to Cultivo and committed an initial $40 million to projects aimed at restoring soil health across thousands of hectares in the US. The collaboration focuses on generating high-quality, nature-based carbon removal credits aligned with the Core Carbon Principles (CCP) while also delivering biodiversity and community benefits.
The additional $60 million investment follows the rapid expansion of Cultivo’s US grasslands project pipeline. The company has already enrolled more than 650,000 acres of land—roughly the size of Rhode Island—and expects to surpass 2 million acres this year. Cultivo said the secured grasslands could remove around 9 million tonnes of CO₂ over the next 30 years.
Grassland pasture and rangeland cover around 659 million acres in the US, representing 29% of the country’s total land area and acting as a major carbon sink that stores more than one-third of the world’s terrestrial carbon.
Dr Manuel Piñuela, CEO and co-founder of Cultivo, said: “Our partnership with Octopus Energy Generation has been transformational. The increase of their capital allocation to $100 million validates our strategy of building a vertically integrated, institutional-grade platform for US natural assets and signals a new era for grasslands. This increased capital allows us to continue accelerating the growth of our US grasslands and carbon removal project pipeline at speed and scale.”
Alex Brierley, co-head of Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management team, said: “We love when technology helps nature do what it does best – cut emissions fast. By putting meaningful capital into natural capital projects, we can support ranching communities, strengthen these vital landscapes, and develop grasslands into global assets. It’s been fantastic working with Cultivo, and we’re excited to support them in this next phase of growth.”
The announcement follows Cultivo’s recent acquisition of Kateri, a carbon grasslands project developer. The integration will combine Cultivo’s technology platform with in-field tools such as virtual fencing, advanced soil carbon modelling and an AI-driven data platform to support large-scale carbon removal projects.
