Nori, a Seattle startup that sells carbon credits to individuals and businesses to offset carbon emissions, laid off 10 employees last week, co-founder and CEO Paul Gambill confirmed.
The cuts represent 37% of Nori’s team, leaving the startup with 17 employees.
“This was not done lightly, and, like many companies right now, was done solely for planning for changing market conditions,” Gambill told GeekWire. “I wish we could have kept everyone.”
Gambill added that the company has seen it become “more difficult for startups of all types to raise new money over the last few quarters.” But from what he can tell, “the climate industry is holding on the strongest of any of the new major tech industries.”
Layoffs have been impacting tech companies large and small for months. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Outreach, Convoy, Leafly and numerous other companies in the Seattle region have reduced headcount amid the broader tech industry downturn and ongoing economic uncertainty.
Founded in 2017, Nori’s blockchain-based model pays farmers to use verifiable, sustainable practices that store carbon dioxide. Its current focus is selling carbon sequestered in soils via its partnership with Bayer and individual growers.
Nori recently launched its Web3 integration by moving the entire marketplace on-chain. Gambill said that makes it simple for any decentralized application “to automatically incorporate carbon removal and give their users the ability to make a difference in reversing climate change.”
A Techstars Sustainability Accelerator graduate, Nori raised $7 million in February 2022 in a Series A round led by M13. Toyota Ventures, the VC arm of Toyota, also invested.
Previously: As funding and demand align, Nori CEO Paul Gambill is ready to grow his carbon removal startup
