"Building a bridge to the buyer": How Groundwork BioAg uses Calyx Compass to align project design with market demand

Shawn Gagné is Chief Commercial Officer at Groundwork BioAg, a company that revives ancient mycorrhizal fungi for today’s farms. Their Rootella Carbon works to extend roots by up to 100X, boost yields, improve fertilizer efficiency, and lock carbon deep within the soil.

We spoke with Shawn about how he uses Calyx Compass, Calyx Global’s decision tool for early-stage carbon projects, to design high integrity projects and communicate the merits of Groundwork BioAs projects to buyers.

The challenge: How do you meet buyers where they are?  

Shawn explained that when carbon project developers like Groundwork BioAg issue new projects, they often face a challenge explaining complex nuances of a project to buyers that are on high alert for risks. A developer might feel confident their project is scientifically sound, but struggle to communicate to a buyer why they should choose their credits over many others. 

“One of the problems with the carbon market in general, especially from a developer point of view, is thinking if we talk more about science, then people will understand it and they will agree with us and buy based on science—but that's not the case,” explains Shawn. “Science is one of the bare minimum requirements to even enter this marketplace.”

How Calyx Compass helps: Actionable gap analysis and a standardized language 

Enter Calyx Compass. Compass contains methodology-specific guidance for early-stage and unrated projects. Users can see strengths and weaknesses of different methodologies, and in turn design higher integrity carbon credits. Compass also shows supply and demand trends for different project types, making it easier to see what traits buyers are looking for.

Shawn used Calyx Compass to self-assess Groundwork BioAg’s project against the issues Calyx Global has identified as key to a high-quality credit. Compass identifies the strengths and weaknesses of different methodologies, allowing a developer to ensure they are filling gaps where the methodologies may have holes. In turn, this allowed Shawn to design Groundwork BioAg’s carbon projects to be higher integrity. Importantly, this also helped the company better articulate to buyers why their project exceeded expectations.

“Calyx Compass was supremely helpful for us and allowed me to develop my own gap analysis. That analysis allowed us internally to identify what is missing from our programs to essentially build that bridge to a buyer-centered point of view.”

An accessible point of entry

Compass served as an affordable, accessible entry point that allowed the team to run a proactive internal review of their risk profile before credits come online and can be judged by the market.

“When you’re pre-issuance, all money needs to be put toward selling credits. Without selling credits, we can’t support our farmers. Lots of the other options out there have a high barrier to entry. It can’t be underscored how much the relatively small amount we spent on Calyx Compass makes a difference to our ability to scale.”

“For us, the key is finding a standardized way to communicate to buyers why our project is quality,” Shawn said. “The best way to reach buyers is with a good rating, and the best way to get a good rating is to understand what the rating systems are looking at and then to meet those.”

Interested in seeing what goes into a high-quality project? Request a demo of Calyx Compass today.