Wren | Wren proudly invests in Pacific Biochar to scale carbon removal

Wren has made its first-ever investment into a climate solution, providing capital to help Pacific Biochar—a California public benefit corporation—scale and remove 4× more carbon by 2026. This investment gives our community the opportunity to go beyond personal impact, helping a carbon removal leader thrive in the fight against the climate crisis. Wren subscribers offset the same amount of carbon as before, at the same price, while also funding this investment into Pacific Biochar.

Why Wren is investing in Pacific Biochar

Climate scientists agree that carbon removal is essential to limit global warming, but we’re not moving fast enough. Pacific Biochar is one of the top five carbon removal suppliers worldwide and has been pioneering the sector for more than a decade. Investing in Pacific Biochar gives Wren and our subscribers the opportunity to scale carbon removal, have a more hands-on role in the voluntary carbon market, and gain unprecedented insight into the workings of a climate solution.

This investment comes at a pivotal time for the industry. Analysis suggests that the carbon removal market will continue to grow and the demand for biochar carbon credits will increase. However, the future of this sector is uncertain under the Trump administration, which threatens to halt carbon removal funding and dismantle relevant departments. This highlights the increasing importance of private investment in ensuring the success of carbon removal, at a critical time for our planet.

How this opportunity came about

Over the past few years, Pacific Biochar focused on growth. It brought on new facilities, signed additional contracts, and saw profits increase as it scaled. This expansion was set to continue last year, funded by a loan, which fell through due to a series of unexpected cashflow issues. These challenges stemmed from the cash burn rate of producing and deploying biochar in large quantities, volatility in the voluntary carbon market, and a general lack of debt financing available to carbon removal innovators.

As a self-funded public benefit corporation, this put Pacific Biochar in a difficult position, where it would not be able to regain momentum or continue operations without external financing. This meant that the carbon removal industry was at risk of losing an integral supplier, which would have been a giant step backward for climate progress.

That’s where Wren comes in, investing $1M in Pacific Biochar to provide capital in the absence of a traditional loan. Pacific Biochar will use this investment to get facilities accredited and verified, pay facilities to convert biomass into biochar, and transport biochar to its destination. About one-tenth of this investment will go toward Pacific Biochar’s payroll and administration costs. This financial support also puts Pacific Biochar in a better position to secure lending for future capital, with an improved balance sheet and confidence signals from Wren as an equity partner.

What this means for Wren subscribers

Since 2021, Wren subscribers have funded Pacific Biochar credits with our Biochar carbon removal project. Now, they're also funding an investment into Pacific Biochar, the public benefit corporation.

Wren subscribers offset the same amount of carbon as before, at the same price. This is possible due to the portfolio structure of Wren Classic and Wren Trailblazer, which separates this capital from offsetting claims with a new project category— Investments.

Funds allocated to Biochar carbon removal (Certified offset) purchase credits, just like previous iterations of our portfolios. Funds allocated to Biochar carbon removal (Investment) do not purchase credits, and directly finance Wren’s investment into Pacific Biochar.

We don’t expect to add any Investments aside from Pacific Biochar in the near future, but we’re always looking to maximize our impact.

How Wren will support Pacific Biochar

This investment gives Wren significant influence over Pacific Biochar’s strategic direction. The daily management of Pacific Biochar will not change, as we leverage the expertise of its longstanding team. Wren’s role will be helping Pacific Biochar identify and mitigate risks, like cashflow issues, while also embracing opportunities, like process improvements and sales avenues.

Given Wren’s partial ownership of Pacific Biochar, we have safeguards in place to avoid conflicts of interest, ensure credit quality, and protect our existing pre-purchases. Each buying cycle, we will compare Pacific Biochar credits to others on the market, and only purchase them if the cost per tonne is competitive. We also still require independent third-party verification and protect our existing pre-purchased credits with Kita insurance.

If Wren receives financial returns from this investment, like dividends or capital gains, these will be used to further our mission to help reverse the climate crisis—not be paid out to Wren shareholders or employees through bonuses, salary increases, or similar mechanisms.

What’s next for Pacific Biochar × Wren

This investment provides capital for Pacific Biochar to maintain its existing facilities and bring additional facilities online, scaling to remove 4× more carbon by 2026. Pacific Biochar will also seek out buyers to purchase carbon credits generated from this expansion, strengthening income to ensure financial sustainability moving forward.

Wren will stand alongside Pacific Biochar in this journey, providing support along the way. We will also leverage this relationship to provide greater detail in Pacific Biochar project updates, helping Wren subscribers feel connected to ongoing progress. As Pacific Biochar grows, the Wren community will be remembered for its instrumental role in accelerating carbon removal and bolstering a critical player in the voluntary carbon market.

That's all for this update! As always, thank you for your support.