Is Carbonapp...an app?

“Ah, Carbonapp! So you work in carbon and are developing an app?”; “What does your app do?”; “Are you a SaaS?” We are regularly asked these questions at trade shows and other professional events. And rightly so: why is Carbonapp called that when it doesn't have a great app where, like on our platform, we could access all the information about the carbon projects we are developing?

We are taking advantage of this summer break to finally reveal the name “Carbonapp” and take the opportunity to look back at the beginnings of the project.

It all started on a café terrace in September 2020, when Paul Bonan, Nicolas Ferriere, and Gaultier Bernard, our three co-founders, pooled their thoughts after weeks of a trying lockdown. A common theme emerged during the conversation: supporting local initiatives that make us less dependent on distant supply chains and, above all, that could reconnect us with life and nature.

Nicolas has in-depth knowledge of ESAs (Energy Saving Certificates) (the cousins of the Low Carbon Label for the energy industry), while Gaultier and Paul have real expertise in biochar production. Combine all of this with a mutual desire to create an entity capable of facilitating the development of environmental projects, and you have the ingredients necessary to create a carbon operator... all in less than an hour.

But here's the thing: the idea is great, but we need to find a name for this structure. The “carbon” part is easy, but we need to do something with that word. We need to find a practical, tangible, real aspect to it... a concrete application.

We shorten this term to three letters, “app,” which we attach to the word “carbon,” and voilà. Carbonapp.

But still no mobile app... and that's where the problem lies, because that's what everyone thinks of. Starting with every new Carbonapp employee. And four years later, it's still not obvious... but the anecdote still hits home.

Today, the sector is undergoing rapid digitalization, with numerous MRV [Monitoring, Reporting, Verification] services, all kinds of platforms for managing credit portfolios, and tools for monitoring company indicators. All of this complements the fieldwork we do, aided by our platform, which is well developed as an internal app.

Given this context, what if it weren't too late to develop that famous app after all?