Ex-WeWork CEO, Adam Newmann, is now the owner of a new crypto startup. Despite being WeWork’s founder, Newmann stepped down from his role as the company’s CEO following arguments with other board executives.
His resignation came close to the time of the firm’s IPO. However, Newmann’s new crypto startup (Flowcarbon) aims to deploy blockchain technology on the voluntary carbon market.
Flowcarbon Raises $70M From VC Investors And Token Presales
The company raised $70M from VC investors and sales of the firm’s native token (GNT). A16z’s investment was the highest among other VC investors for Flowcarbon to raise $32M, while the remaining $38M was through the private presale of GNT tokens.
The Goddess Nature Token (GNT) is Flowcarbon’s native token. The Flowcarbon website claims several certified carbon offset credits back the GNT token. It also said that the credits were accumulations from nature-based projects in the last five years.
Each credit trades on the voluntary carbon market. Analysts estimate that this market would be worth $700M within the next five years. The credits remain redeemable until an end-user claims them. Anyone who redeems the credit offset would be eligible for its environmental impact.
Flowcarbon further claims that its native token is redeemable for a real carbon credit. It also claims that the tokens’ holders can swap or use them for lending or borrowing purposes. GNT will run on the Celo blockchain after it becomes available to the public.
A top-level executive with Flowcarbon, Nicole Shore, states that anyone can apply on the firm’s site to take part in the presale. Apart from A16z, other VC investors in this funding round include 166 2nd financial services, Samsung Next, and General Catalyst.
Samsung Next is also one of the top investors in Axie Infinity and Dapper Labs. By comparison, General Catalyst is one of the top investors in Stripe and Audius. Stripe is a popular payment platform, while Audius is a popular decentralized music platform.
The Flowcarbon Team
Neumann’s family office owns 166 2nd financial services. Neumann launched this firm last October. The firm claims to have $700M in digital assets under its management.
While speaking in an interview with the Business of Business media outlet two months ago, Dana Gibber stated that Neumann wanted a company that could optimize 166 2nd’s conservation efforts and offers huge revenue.
The 166 2nd team created Flowcarbon with Gibber as the company’s chief executive. Apart from Neumann, Flowcarbon is founded by four other persons. They are Neumann’s wife Rebekah, Carolina Klatt, and Ilan Stern. Klatt is the COO of Flowcarbon.
Stern heads the Neumann family office. He was an ex-employee of the George Soros family office. He also had a brief stint with the general catalyst, one of the investors in Flowcarbon.
While speaking about the Flowcarbon team, Gibber mentioned that he worked with Neumann to select each team member after thoroughly analyzing their strengths carefully. He also said that the team’s total experience spans many years and millions of hectares.