Calgary-based AgTech firm HEMPALTA has acquired the remaining 49.9% stake of Hemp Carbon Standard, granting the company complete operational control of its carbon credit technology.
The deal, which includes an initial payment plus additional performance-based payments tied to upcoming carbon credit sales, positions HEMPALTA to scale its carbon credit solutions globally and streamline its platform for measuring, reporting, and verifying carbon sequestration in industrial hemp farming.
This strategic move follows HEMPALTA’s March 2024 debut on the TSX Venture Exchange, an unconventional choice for an early-stage tech company. By going public, HEMPALTA broadened its investor pool, drawing interest from retail markets rather than relying solely on traditional angel, venture, or crowdfunding approaches.
The company operates a hemp processing plant at its production facility in Calgary where it produces animal bedding, pet litter, garden mulch, hurd for hempcrete, and its latest offering, biochar.
Full ownership of HCS grants HEMPALTA direct access to methodologies that supported a 337% increase in managed acres from 2023 to 2024, spanning Canada, the U.S., and a number of international markets. With approximately 50,000 credits expected from the 2024 growing season, HEMPALTA now holds the foundation to expand even further, ensuring buyers benefit from rigorously certified carbon credits.
According to HEMPALTA CEO Darren Bondar, “full ownership of HCS allows us to streamline operations, strengthen our technology platform, and deliver greater value to our partners and investors with this low capex, highly scalable platform.”
The acquisition also strengthens HEMPALTA’s biochar program. Biochar, a carbon-rich by-product of hemp and other plant waste, can fetch approximately US$100 per tonne of CO2 sequestered as a carbon credit. The company’s newly launched Biochar.ca website offers consumers and commercial customers a way to access biochar products, reflecting HEMPALTA’s growing footprint in sustainable agriculture and product innovation.
Bondar notes that HEMPALTA has begun exploring strategic options for high-capacity, larger-scale production of biochar in its operations.
As global demand for carbon credits accelerates – spurred by commitments from major corporations, increased interest from data center operators, and substantial projects like the newly announced AI data center industrial park near Grande Prairie, Alberta – HEMPALTA’s enhanced platform and full ownership of HCS technology position it to become a key player in the evolving carbon marketplace.
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