DevvStream CEO Talks Blockchain And Carbon Credits Ahead Of NEO Exchange IPO

If you are a living creature, you produce gas emissions, albeit in small amounts.

On the other hand, if you’re a business, you emit far greater amounts. Some of the biggest sources of emissions include transportation, as well as spaces for living and working.

In the fight against climate change, individuals, businesses, and beyond are looking to carbon credits and offsets to promote sustainability and a trend of energy innovation.

In learning more about how to promote sustainability and energy innovation with carbon credits, Benzinga spoke with Sunny Trinh, the CEO of DevvStream.

The Context: Trinh is an engineer that spent the majority of his life in technology and hardware.

During the past ten years or so, he started having more contact with companies on renewable energy projects that improve environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) scores.

The space interested him so much that he ended up pivoting and joining Devvio Inc, the maker of a blockchain protocol called DevvX.

There, Trinh helped build what became DevvStream (formerly DevvESG Streaming), a business that helps advance carbon-reducing technologies by financing them through carbon credits.

“I utilized Devvio’s blockchain platform and spun off a sister company called DevvStream,” Trinh, who learned much in the space through trial-by-fire, told Benzinga. “We essentially invest into these [renewable energy] projects in exchange for the carbon credit rights.”

DevvStream, then, turns around and resells the carbon credits, using the proceeds for other investments.

“It becomes a very circular path that allows us to advance these technologies.”

Why It Matters: The emission of carbon feeds into the greenhouse gasses that blanket the Earth and trap heat. This warming potentially plays into accelerated changes in climate.

Companies, which are often larger emitters, can only do so much to lower their footprint.

“They can’t be net-zero on their own. It’s impossible until every single piece of electricity is renewable. That’s not going to happen for a while, and so carbon credits help.”

At their core, carbon credits are a tax on owners’ continued pollution. The proceeds from those credits help fund projects reducing emissions by an equivalent amount.

“The company – say Apple Inc AAPL – would go buy these credits to reduce their emissions,” and carbon footprint, Trinh explained. “It taxes these companies and uses the money to finance projects that actually help reduce or eliminate emissions.”

For example, in Iceland, there are machines that suck carbon directly from the air. This, hypothetically, would be a recipient of those funds, Trinh says.

Differentiator: The industry is nascent and there are some participants who are acting in unscrupulous ways, such as selling the same carbon credits to two different entities.

“That’s double-counting,” Trinh said on using a blockchain model to increase overall market liquidity and transparency. “This is something we solve for. We put everything on the blockchain. Every transaction detail is seen by everyone.”

How To Grow: Given that it’s a nascent, but hot industry, DevvStream, fresh from incorporating in August of last year, secured its first million dollars and, within months, added a $10 million oversubscribed raise.

Within weeks, however, DevvStream will, again, open the door to outside money when it lists on the Canada-based NEO Exchange. Funds will be directed toward the over 80 projects the firm has in its pipeline, and expanding partnerships.

“Right now, we have partnerships in place with United Nations’ United Cities North America (UCNA) arm. Their head in North America is on our advisory board and so, anything they’re working on, we have right of first refusal.”

Parting Words: Trinh says that demand for carbon credits may be up to 100x of what it is now, by 2050.

"This is an incredible, once-in-a-generation opportunity … that we’re going to unlock with our blockchain platform."