Arkadiah Technology (“Arkadiah”), a nature tech company, announced today the successful closure of its seed funding round. The round was led by Golden Gate Ventures, with the participation from The Radical Fund and Money Forward Venture Partners (HIRAC FUND). 

                                        Gerry Ong (Left) and Reuben Lai (Right)

Arkadiah revives degraded land through AI-enabled nature restoration. Nature-based climate solutions could provide estimated 30%¹ of the mitigation needed till 2050 to achieve the 1.5℃ target of the Paris Agreement. However, nature restoration projects are currently met with long, cumbersome and manual processes from project development, monitoring, and credit issuance. This hinders much-needed funding, scaling, and speed. 

Arkadiah’s proprietary platform uses AI, LiDAR, satellite imagery and ground truthing to provide transparent and verifiable data with scientific rigour. Digitising the end-to-end process for project developers, landowners and corporations, the platform streamlines deployment of nature-based climate solutions, such as reforestation and agroforestry for high quality carbon removal and advancing biodiversity-rich ecosystems.

Founded in 2023, Arkadiah’s team consists of practitioners and experts in reforestation and landscape restoration, ecology, geospatial technology and software development, led by Reuben Lai (CEO and Co-Founder) and Gerry Ong (Head of Geospatial and Co-Founder). Reuben was formerly the Senior Managing Director at Grab Financial Group, and Gerry, a recognised leader in the geospatial industry with over 30 years of experience, is the Honorary President of the ASEAN Federation of Land Surveying & Geomatics (AFLAG) and currently leads AFLAG’s Climate Change & Sustainability working group.

Reuben Lai said “We're thrilled to have the support of our investors who share our vision to build a nature-positive future. Through transformative AI and digital monitoring technology, we are eager to accelerate project funding opportunities and scale needed land restoration to bring the highest quality carbon removal and biodiversity credits in Asia.”

Arkadiah’s platform was also purpose-built to cover the rich biodiversity and landscape of Southeast Asia. The region saw 82%² growth in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions between 1990 and 2020, mainly from fossil fuel combustion, agriculture, land use change and forestry. Unchecked growth in emissions could cause the region’s GDP to fall as high as 37%³ in a severe scenario of 3.2℃ rise in temperature. With 15% of the world’s tropical forests, key biodiversity hotspots, and agriculture-dependent economies, Southeast Asia is strategically primed to have nature-based climate solutions play an outsize role towards meeting the region’s climate ambition.

Arkadiah has implemented and is currently supporting pilots with over 15 projects in Southeast Asia and Australia on pre-feasibility/feasibility studies and carbon stock digital measurements.

With the new funding, Arkadiah plans to enhance their AI models, expand their product offerings and be in a strong position to scale with project developers, natural climate investors, land owners and corporations. 

Justin Hall, Partner at Golden Gate Ventures, said “I am genuinely enthusiastic about our investment in Arkadiah. Their groundbreaking AI-enabled approach to nature restoration is not just innovative, it's a vital step towards our shared climate goals for 2030. Seeing the potential impact in Southeast Asia, a region close to our hearts, is especially exciting. I am particularly impressed by Reuben Lai and Gerry Ong's leadership, bringing together a strong blend of expertise in technology and geospatial analysis. Arkadiah is a big step towards a greener, more sustainable Southeast Asia, and I'm honoured to be a part of this transformative journey.” 

Alina Truhina, CEO & Managing Partner at The Radical Fund, said “We believe Arkadiah is poised to become a dominant player in the emerging asset class of nature-based carbon credits. Their multi-pronged approach, powered by deep technology and strategic partnerships, enables rapid scaling and accurate measurement of carbon sequestration. With global enterprises showing increasing interest in carbon credits, and the establishment of market exchanges in Southeast Asia, the opportunity is vast and makes it the perfect time to seize this opportunity.” 

Naoya Kanesaka, Managing Partner at HIRAC FUND, said “We have been seeing real demand for sustainable climate solutions among Japanese corporations as Japan aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and we are confident that Arkadiah is uniquely positioned to provide quality nature-based carbon credits in the Asia Pacific region. We believe in Arkadiah's vision and we are thrilled to be able to support Arkadiah in achieving their goals.”

Source:
^{1 Roe et al. 2019. Contribution of the land sector to a 1.5°C world, Nature Climate Change
2 climatewatchdata.org
3 Swiss Re Institute. April 2021. The Economics Of Climate Change: No Action Not An Option}