Here's something that kept me up last night: We're trying to fix climate change with the same industrial mindset that created it.

Think about it. Most climate solutions right now? They're big, expensive, and require massive infrastructure changes. Carbon capture facilities the size of small towns. Billion-dollar battery plants. Don't get me wrong... we need those too. But there's this whole other approach that's been sitting right under our noses. Literally.

Soil.

I know, I know. Soil doesn't sound sexy. It doesn't have the same ring as "revolutionary battery technology" or "next-generation carbon capture." But here's what changed my mind completely: healthy soil sequesters more carbon than all our forests combined. And we've spent the last century absolutely destroying it.

The problem nobody's talking about

Modern agriculture has turned living soil into basically... dirt. Just a growing medium. We've stripped out the biology, the complexity, the life. And in doing so, we've released billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

But – and this is the exciting part – we can reverse it.

At Clarity Ventures, we invest in companies tackling climate change across six sectors. Food and agriculture has always been part of that mix. But recently, something shifted for me. I started seeing regenerative agriculture companies that weren't just about feel-good farming practices. They had the data. The scalability. The economic model that actually works for farmers.

Because here's the thing most investors miss: farmers aren't going to change how they work just because it's better for the planet. They can't afford to. Margins are already razor-thin. They need solutions that improve their bottom line while sequestering carbon.

What makes this time different

We've looked at probably 50 agtech companies this year alone. Most fall into the same trap – they're solving problems engineers think farmers have, not problems farmers actually have.

But then you meet founders who grew up on farms. Who understand that a "solution" requiring $100K in upfront investment is a non-starter. Who've built business models around proving ROI in 2-3 seasons, not decades.

One company we're particularly excited about (can't share the name yet, still in diligence) has figured out how to help farmers transition to regenerative practices while actually increasing yields in year one. Not year five. Year one. They're doing it through a combination of soil biology monitoring, precision application of organic inputs, and – this is clever – a marketplace that connects regenerative farmers directly with food companies paying premiums for sustainably-grown ingredients.

The food companies get supply chain resilience and carbon credits. The farmers get better margins and healthier land. The planet gets carbon sequestration at scale.

Everybody wins.

Why this matters for investors

Look, I get the skepticism around climate investing. Too many moonshots. Too much hope, not enough traction.

But agriculture is different. We're not waiting for technology breakthroughs or policy changes (though both would help). The practices work. The economics work. We're just now getting the measurement tools and market infrastructure to prove it at scale.

The global regenerative agriculture market is projected to hit $22 billion by 2030. That's not just because it's good for the environment. It's because soil health directly impacts:

• Crop resilience during droughts and floods (both increasing)

• Input costs (healthy soil needs fewer chemicals)

• Premium pricing from conscious consumers

• New revenue streams from carbon markets

One of our portfolio companies in this space shared something that stuck with me. Their CEO said: "We're not asking farmers to sacrifice profit for the planet. We're showing them that rebuilding their soil is the most profitable thing they can do."

That's the kind of alignment we look for.

What we're watching

The next 18 months are going to be critical for this sector. We're seeing:

Real measurement and verification tools emerging... finally giving us trustworthy data on carbon sequestration

Major food companies making serious commitments to regenerative supply chains (with actual budgets attached)

Carbon markets maturing, creating new revenue streams for early adopters

Government programs starting to support the transition with real funding

But here's what has me most excited: the farmer networks. Once a few farmers in a community prove this works, adoption spreads fast. Agriculture has always been a "show me" industry. Now we can show them – with their neighbor's tax returns and soil tests.

The honest challenges

I'd be lying if I said this was easy money. The challenges are real:

Agricultural cycles are long. You can't iterate weekly like you can with software.

Weather remains the ultimate variable. A bad season can derail the best-laid plans.

The industry is fragmented. Reaching farmers requires different strategies in different regions.

Carbon markets are still finding their footing. Pricing and regulations remain uncertain.

But these feel like solvable problems, not fundamental flaws. And the companies finding solutions? They're building defensible moats around real expertise and farmer relationships you can't just copy-paste.

Why we're optimistic

At Clarity Ventures, we invest in companies mitigating climate change because we have to. But we invest in these companies because the model actually works.

There's something powerful about solutions that don't require people to choose between their livelihoods and the planet. That's what the best climate solutions do – they make the sustainable choice the profitable choice.

Regenerative agriculture does that. And after a decade of false starts and overhyped pilots, we're finally seeing companies with the approach, the team, and the timing to make it work at scale.

So yeah, we're betting on farmers. And if you care about finding climate solutions that can actually deploy fast enough to matter?

You should be too.

Want to learn more about our food and agriculture investments? Let's talk about what we're seeing and where the opportunities are.