Mast Announces Market-first Restorative Carbon Removal Project and $25 Million in Series B Funding

Pulse Fund and Social Capital lead the funding round as Mast launches a first-of-its-kind biomass burial and reforestation project, creating a new class of restorative carbon removal credits to drive ecological recovery

SEATTLE  , Feb. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Mast Reforestation, North America's leading post-wildfire reforestation company, today announced a $25 million Series B funding round to scale its expansion into biomass burial—also known as Biomass Carbon Removal & Storage (BiCRS)—an emerging durable and scalable carbon removal solution that Mast is integrating with its restorative reforestation services. Co-led by new investor Pulse Fund and existing investor Social Capital with participation from the Series A co-lead Seven Seven Six, the investment accelerates Mast's work to restore forestland lost to high-severity wildfires across the Western United States. 

Mast is launching its first restorative biomass burial project, Mast Wood Preserve MT1, in central Montana. The company will generate carbon removal credits from the onsite burial of unmerchantable, fire-killed trees that would otherwise release stored carbon as they are piled and burned. The project also includes Mast's restoration of approximately 900 acres of forestland that experienced severe burns during the 2021 Poverty Flats Fire, offering a unique opportunity for organizations to finance post-wildfire restoration while locking in durable credits that can be retired by 2030. To provide additional third-party validation of this new carbon removal pathway, Mast has submitted the project for a BeZero rating in addition to undergoing registration and future verification with Puro.earth. Mast plans to begin burial activities in 2025 and the project is expected to generate up to 30,000 tonnes of removal credits through 2026–now available for presale. 

After severe wildfire, landowners face hazardous landscape conditions and limited options for reforestation. With no alternative uses or value for the burned trees, many clear and pile burn in order to reduce wildfire fuel on their property. This releases greenhouse gases and has demonstrated impacts to local air quality during seasonal windows of burn opportunity. The MT1 project, located hundreds of miles from facilities that could repurpose the burned wood for lumber, biochar, or energy production, provides the most efficient and immediate pathway to carbon sequestration. Protected under a 100-year easement and rigorous monitoring, reporting, and verification requirements, the geotechnically designed, anoxic (oxygen-limited) 'chamber' is designed to halt the decomposition of the buried wood. This prevents the release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) for a minimum of 100 years, with research and modeling indicating preservation for as long as 3,000 years. Conservative accounting under Puro.earth ensures appropriate baseline, additionality, leakage, and operational emissions are addressed.

The company estimates that Montana alone contains 2.3 million tonnes of dead trees from wildfires in the last four years—demonstrating a significant opportunity to permanently remove this tonnage from the carbon cycle—a challenge that many other carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies are pursuing as a long-term goal.

This innovative approach aligns seamlessly with Mast's expertise in reforestation, ensuring optimal site conditions for replanting resilient forests where high-severity wildfires have caused irreversible loss. The first and most expensive step in post-wildfire recovery is removing dead, burned trees to mitigate risks to replanting crews and make way for new seedlings. Mast's reforestation operations for this property will include the restoration of native species cultivated from wild-collected seed, grown in-house, and matched to the project area's elevation and climate to re-establish ecological function, biodiversity, and resilience.

"Wildfire-destroyed trees pose both a hazard and an opportunity," said Grant Canary, CEO of Mast Reforestation. "By burying this biomass, we lock away additional carbon, clear the way for new seedlings to thrive, and reduce the risk of these trees fueling future wildfires. This advancement, coupled with Mast's progress in expanding the wild seed and seedling supply for urgent reforestation needs across the West, takes us to the next frontier of the challenge of scaling responsible reforestation and carbon removal in a way that's never been done before."

"With wildfires worsening and communities being devastated faster than recovery has been able to keep pace, supporting Mast's work was a clear choice for the Pulse Fund," said Tenzin Seldon, Founder and Managing Partner of the Pulse Fund. "We are committed to restoring the most vulnerable ecosystems through Mast's ambitious and holistic approach to forest restoration."

"Mast Reforestation has consistently demonstrated resilience and innovation amidst the complexities of the carbon market," said Katelin Holloway, Founding Partner at Seven Seven Six. "The company's introduction of restorative carbon credits enables companies to achieve durable carbon removal while actively contributing to forest ecosystem recovery. Mast's mission aligns perfectly with Seven Seven Six's commitment to supporting founders who are leveraging innovation to change the world for the better."

"I don't believe in every carbon credit, but I believe in the work Mast is doing," said Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder and CEO at Social Capital. "In a market full of uncertainty, Mast's projects deliver real, measurable impact."

Additional investors in the Series B round include Elemental Impact; Spero Ventures, with Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning as board observer; Thistledown Capital; Julius Genachowski, former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, and Resilience Reserve. Mast also welcomes reinvestment from several investor groups, including LGBTQ+ investors Gaingels, as well as sector-focused Climate Avengers and Climate Capital; and longtime supporters from Mast's beginning days in Techstars, Drone.vc, Asymmetry Ventures and Massive Capital Partners also participated in the round.

Mast has been specializing in carbon-financed reforestation in the U.S. and Canada since 2020 with buyers such as Shopify and TIME CO2. Carbon buyers are invited to connect with us at [email protected] and individuals can invest in Mast's reforestation here.

About Mast:
As intensifying wildfires destroy more forestland every year, Mast Reforestation is scaling post-wildfire reforestation in Western North America. Mast pioneers restorative carbon removal that combines resilient forest restoration with durable biomass burial to remove carbon from the atmospheric cycle. Mast owns and operates two of the largest wild tree seed and seedling nurseries in the West, 150-year-old Silvaseed and Cal Forest, which are crucial hubs in the U.S. forestry supply chain essential for wildfire recovery. Mast grows the majority of seedlings for California and manages the majority of seed for the 11 western states. Since its founding, Mast has restored thousands of acres across California, Montana, and Oregon. Producing an average of 36 million seedlings annually, Mast continues to cultivate and protect the biological legacy of Western conifer forests for future generations. Learn more or invest in reforestation today.

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SOURCE Mast Reforestation