When we first started working on Noya, we did not believe we would be able to sell our high-quality carbon removals to anybody for at least another five years. What type of company, we reasoned, would pay for something that didn’t have proven results in the interest of drawing down carbon and making the world better? Enter: Shopify.
Shopify’s Sustainability Fund uses market forces to kickstart carbon removal. The company has been purchasing carbon removal through its Fund since 2020 to demonstrate demand, and fund lab experiments and pilot projects. Its return on investment is measured not by a short-term net-zero goal, but instead by the success of the companies it supports and its impact on reversing climate change. Late last year, we applied to Shopify’s latest round of carbon removal purchases. We got to know Stacy Kauk, Shopify’s Head of Sustainability, and the rest of the sustainability team over the course of several conversations and presentations, and even shared laughs about a story involving the San Francisco Bomb Squad.
Today, we’re thrilled to announce that Shopify has committed to purchase over 1,445 tonnes of carbon removal from Noya over the next several years.
“Noya has been on our radar since the company’s launch because of the scalability of its direct air capture solution. Now, we’re excited to support Noya as its first customer," said Stacy Kauk, Shopify’s Head of Sustainability. "We eagerly await the results of Noya’s upcoming pilot project and can’t wait to see it scale up from there.”
This is a transformational milestone for us, and we couldn’t be prouder to have Shopify as our first customer. Shopify’s support will be an unmatched accelerant in helping us achieve our mission.
Shopify is an absolute trailblazer in the carbon removal space as one of the largest corporate purchasers of long-term carbon removal globally. In addition to its purchases, Shopify has open-sourced its approach, providing advice and resources to help other corporate buyers push forward their own climate programs. But beyond those actions, much of what we admire about Shopify is its impressively clear vision about its desire to lead in this market, and the way in which the company optimizes for impact.
If it’s not clear already, we are psyched to be working with Shopify.
There are countless people and companies to thank at this milestone, but we especially want to call out our mission-driven, impact-focused, carbon-removing team, the incredible roster of investors that have joined us for this journey, and the early set of cooling tower owners that share our vision of turning commercial rooftops into carbon-sucking Dyson machines.
More updates to come as we start delivering on these carbon removals! 🌎