Athian announced today that it has facilitated $18 million in payments to farmers since 2024, financially rewarding them for implementing emissions-reducing practices, including innovative feed ingredients and alternative manure management. Athian, which was founded in 2022 to connect food companies with farmers in their supply chains to achieve Scope 3 goals, also announced it successfully completed a $4 million Series A funding round. These milestones not only signal the food industry’s continued commitment to sustainability goals but also demonstrate the credibility of Athian’s unique, technology-driven model.
New investors include Ajinomoto Group Ventures; Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) Cultivate Next Fund; and Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ), through its impact investing platform, Sustainable Futures. Along with Athian’s seed investors – the Australian Agriculture Company; California Dairies, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health Incorporated; dsm-firmenich Ventures; Newtrient, LLC; and Tyson Ventures – these funding partners span the breadth of the food supply chain, from global leaders in protein production to ingredient manufacturing, consumer-packaged goods companies and food service. These investors will help inform Athian’s continued growth as it expands its capabilities and reach to accommodate new species and international markets.
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“Athian’s original vision was to bring together companies from every step in the food supply chain to deliver a more resilient and sustainable product to consumers,” said Paul Myer, Athian founder and CEO. “Our new funding partners are helping us achieve that vision by supporting our industry-wide effort to give credit to farmers, processors and food companies for their sustainability efforts.”
Athian helps farmers adopt science-based practices, called protocols, by selling the verified outcomes to downstream partners, such as CPGs, grocery stores and restaurants. These food brands then claim and report project outcomes as Scope 3 insets that help make credible progress toward their corporate goals, reward producers for on-farm reductions and meet increasing consumer demand for sustainable products. Learn more about how Athian’s process works.
“At Mondelēz, we are interested in sparking and scaling change,” said Susanne Mathis-Alig at Mondelēz, which established its Sustainable Futures platform in 2021 to support impact investments in circularity, community and climate. “The Athian model has the potential to help us achieve our business goals by measurably addressing key challenges, such as expanding adoption of emissions-reducing practices and delivering ROI to farmers so they can be successful for generations to come.”
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