WASHINGTON D.C. -- A company that works to divert downed city trees from ending up in landfills has received more than $3.2 million in seed money to help fund the company's operations.

Cambium Carbon PBC announced the seed round of investments by several venture capital companies, including MaC Venture Capital, and supported by Soma Capital, Joe Tsai (co-founder and executive vice chairman of Alibaba), Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Blue Ivy Ventures and others.

More salvageable trees fall in U.S. cities each year than in our national forests, and they're often wasted and sent to landfills. Cambium Carbon's SaaS (or Software as a service) platform, Traece, saves these trees by connecting them to local sawyers & millers who turn them into durable products–storing carbon for generations and funding tree planting in communities that need them most. Traece has moved $3.7M of wood to date, according to the company. 

Real estate developers, tech companies, and furniture manufacturers have all purchased Carbon-Smart Wood through Cambium Carbon's supplier network.

"We're on a mission to transform wood products manufacturing. This can be a huge climate solution by dramatically reducing transportation emissions, as well as facilitating reuse of materials in our cities," said Cambium Carbon CEO, Ben Christensen.

The investment comes at a moment of growing pressure on international supply chains. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, lumber prices have jumped 14% to $1,452, putting them just below the all-time peak of $1,711 per thousand board feet recorded last May, according to a report in Market Insider.

High gas prices make shipping timber from overseas expensive and many companies are looking for price-competitive alternatives to traditional timber that contributes to deforestation.

"What excites us most about Cambium Carbon's platform is the expansive impact of their marketplace. By connecting major buyers to local producers they are both creating access to domestic supply chains and actively reducing carbon emissions. Not to mention, their efforts to replant trees will benefit us all in the long term," said Adrian Fenty, former mayor of Washington D.C.. and managing general partner at MaC Venture Capital.

"This funding will allow us to grow a two-sided marketplace for locally sourced and salvaged material that reinvests in urban tree restoration and creates local jobs," said Cambium Carbon co-founder and CFO, Marisa Repka.

Launched in 2020, Cambium Carbon plans to grow its team in the coming months, expanding its platform user-ship, diverting 2,500 tons of wood waste from landfills, and planting 10,000 high-impact trees in partnership with communities.