Investor Overview¶
Carbon Connect is building the infrastructure layer for European carbon funding.
We are the first platform to combine carbon intelligence + grant matching + AI application generation in a single workflow, purpose-built for the EUR 140B+ EU carbon funding landscape.
The Investment Thesis¶
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Massive Market, Timing Now
EUR 140B+ in carbon funding accessible to SMEs through 2030. CSRD, EU Taxonomy, and Fit for 55 are creating unprecedented regulatory urgency. Less than 15% of eligible businesses access these funds.
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Defensible AI Moat
Five-component hybrid matching algorithm with carbon-specific intelligence. Proprietary embedding-based semantic scoring. Data flywheel: more users generate better collaborative filtering signals.
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Exceptional Unit Economics
AI application generation at $0.001 per draft vs. EUR 5,000-25,000 for consultants. 85% gross margins. LTV:CAC ratio of 4.5x-7x. Multi-tenant architecture enables near-zero marginal cost per customer.
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Built, Not Pitched
533 automated tests passing. 60+ production API endpoints. 4 live data integrations. 7 development phases complete. Feature-complete MVP awaiting production deployment.
The Problem¶
EUR 140 Billion Left on the Table¶
The EU has committed the most ambitious climate funding program in history. Yet the vast majority goes unclaimed:
| The Challenge | Impact |
|---|---|
| 2,500+ fragmented programs | SMEs cannot find relevant grants across EU, national, and regional sources |
| Complex eligibility criteria | Carbon requirements, NACE codes, company size restrictions create confusion |
| Expensive consultants | EUR 5,000-25,000 per application prices out most SMEs |
| 70% application failure rate | Mismatches between company profiles and grant requirements waste effort |
| Regulatory complexity | CSRD, EU Taxonomy, Fit for 55 requirements are overwhelming for non-specialists |
The Funding Gap
Less than 15% of eligible European SMEs successfully access carbon funding.
The problem is not a lack of money -- it is a lack of infrastructure connecting that money to the businesses that need it.
The Solution¶
Carbon Connect: The "TurboTax for Carbon Incentives"¶
A three-step workflow that transforms a weeks-long, consultant-dependent process into something any business can do in hours:
flowchart LR
A[Profile] --> B[Match] --> C[Apply]
A -- "Carbon footprint<br>GHG Protocol Scope 1/2/3" --> B
B -- "AI-powered matching<br>5-component algorithm" --> C
C -- "Claude-generated drafts<br>Under $0.001 each" --> D[Submit]| Step | What Happens | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Profile | Company enters business details and carbon data. Climatiq-powered calculator converts activity data to GHG Protocol-compliant emissions | 30 minutes |
| 2. Match | Five-component AI algorithm scores every grant against company profile, surfacing most relevant opportunities | Under 500ms |
| 3. Apply | Claude generates professional application drafts tailored to each grant's requirements | Under 3 seconds |
Market Opportunity¶
EUR 140 Billion in Accessible Funding¶
| Program | Total Allocation | SME-Accessible |
|---|---|---|
| EU Innovation Fund | EUR 40B | ~EUR 10B |
| Horizon Europe | EUR 95.5B | ~EUR 20B |
| ERDF / Cohesion Funds | EUR 200B | ~EUR 50B |
| Just Transition Fund | EUR 17.5B | ~EUR 5B |
| InvestEU Green | EUR 26B | ~EUR 8B |
| National Programs | EUR 150B+ | ~EUR 45B |
| Total | EUR 529B+ | ~EUR 138B |
Market Sizing¶
| Market | Size | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| TAM | EUR 12.4B annually | 6.9M EU SMEs with sustainability needs x EUR 150/month |
| SAM | EUR 882M annually | 420K carbon-focused active grant seekers x EUR 175/month |
| SOM (Year 3) | EUR 22M ARR | 9,500 customers at EUR 193/month average |
Regulatory Tailwinds¶
| Regulation | Impact | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| CSRD | 50,000+ companies mandated to report emissions | 2024-2026 rollout |
| EU Taxonomy | Banks must report taxonomy-aligned financing | Active now |
| Fit for 55 | 55% emission reduction mandate driving new programs | 2030 deadline |
| CBAM | Export-oriented SMEs need carbon footprint proof | 2026 full implementation |
Business Model¶
SaaS Subscription with Partner Leverage¶
| Tier | Price | Target | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freemium | EUR 0 | Lead generation | Browse grants, basic search, limited matching |
| Professional | EUR 199/month | Active seekers | Full matching, AI drafts, carbon profile, alerts |
| Enterprise | EUR 999/month | Multi-company portfolios | Multiple profiles, team access, API, priority support |
| Partner | Revenue share | Consultants, advisors | White-label, multi-client management, commission |
Revenue Streams¶
- Subscription revenue (primary) -- Recurring monthly/annual from Professional and Enterprise
- Partner commissions -- 10-20% of referred customer revenue based on partner tier
- Usage-based AI (future) -- Premium AI features on per-use basis
Unit Economics¶
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| AI cost per application draft | ~$0.001 |
| Infrastructure cost per request | ~$0.0005 |
| Gross margin | ~85% |
| Average customer lifetime | 24 months |
| Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) | ~EUR 3,570 |
| Target CAC | EUR 500-800 |
| LTV:CAC Ratio | 4.5x - 7x |
SaaS Benchmark
A LTV:CAC ratio above 3x is considered excellent in SaaS. Our target range reflects the efficiency of product-led growth through freemium and partner channels.
Competitive Advantage¶
Why We Win¶
| Competitor Type | What They Offer | What They Lack |
|---|---|---|
| Grant databases (GrantFinder, Fundsquire) | Search and discovery | No carbon intelligence, no AI matching, no application help |
| Carbon accounting (Persefoni, Watershed) | Emission measurement | No funding connection, no grant matching |
| Traditional consultants | Deep expertise | EUR 5,000-25,000 per application, unscalable |
| Government portals | Raw data | Poor UX, no cross-border search, no personalization |
Our Moat¶
| Moat Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Carbon-first architecture | Not a generic platform with carbon bolted on -- carbon intelligence is foundational |
| Hybrid AI matching | Five-component algorithm combining rules, semantics, carbon alignment, peer signals, and timing |
| Data flywheel | More users generate better collaborative filtering signals for everyone |
| Multi-source pipeline | Aggregated data from 4+ sources, normalized with consistent schema |
| Cost structure | AI generation at 1/10,000th the cost of consultants enables new market segments |
Traction & Proof Points¶
What's Built¶
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Development phases | 7 of 7 complete |
| API endpoints | 60+ production-ready |
| Automated tests | 533 passing |
| Backend linting | Clean (zero warnings) |
| Data sources live | 4 (CORDIS, EU Portal, Cohesion, Innovate UK) |
| Carbon categories | 14 supported |
| Platform status | Feature-complete MVP |
Technical Capabilities Delivered¶
| Capability | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Carbon intelligence | Scope ½/3 calculations via Climatiq API, EU Taxonomy alignment, certification tracking |
| AI matching | Five-component hybrid algorithm with 25% carbon weight, under 500ms response |
| AI generation | Claude-powered application drafts with templates, streaming, cost tracking |
| Enterprise platform | Multi-tenant architecture, partner API, 14+ partner endpoints |
| Infrastructure | Terraform modules for AWS (VPC, RDS, ECS, S3), CI/CD pipelines, security scanning |
Performance Benchmarks¶
| Metric | Target | Achieved |
|---|---|---|
| API response time | Under 200ms | Yes |
| Search latency | Under 100ms | Yes |
| Matching calculation | Under 500ms | Yes |
| AI generation | Under 3 seconds | Yes |
Go-to-Market Strategy¶
Channel Mix¶
| Channel | Strategy | Revenue Target |
|---|---|---|
| Product-led growth | Freemium tier, in-product upgrades | 40% |
| Partner program | Consultants, banks, associations | 30% |
| Content marketing | Grant guides, compliance resources | 15% |
| Direct sales | Enterprise outreach | 15% |
Geographic Focus¶
Initial Markets (2026): Germany, France, Netherlands, UK, Italy
Expansion (2027-2028): Spain, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, remaining EU, Switzerland, Norway
Financial Projections¶
Revenue Trajectory¶
| Year | Customers | Avg Monthly Revenue | ARR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,500 | EUR 133 | EUR 2.4M |
| 2027 | 4,200 | EUR 168 | EUR 8.5M |
| 2028 | 9,500 | EUR 193 | EUR 22.0M |
Cost Structure at Scale¶
| Category | % of Revenue |
|---|---|
| Cloud infrastructure (AWS) | 15-20% |
| AI/API costs (Claude, Climatiq) | 5-8% |
| Data pipeline | 3-5% |
| Personnel | 50-60% |
| Other (marketing, legal, admin) | 15-20% |
Roadmap¶
Near-Term (Q1-Q2 2026)¶
| Priority | Item |
|---|---|
| P0 | Production deployment on AWS |
| P0 | End-to-end testing suite |
| P1 | BAFA scraper (Germany) |
| P1 | KfW scraper (Germany) |
| P1 | Bpifrance scraper (France) |
| P1 | GDPR DSR implementation |
Medium-Term (H2 2026 - H1 2027)¶
- Additional national scrapers (Netherlands, Spain)
- Advanced collaborative filtering
- Historical success rate tracking
- Team collaboration features
- White-label partner portal
Long-Term Vision (2027-2030)¶
| Phase | Timeline | Milestones |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | 2027 | 10,000+ customers, all 27 EU states, 500+ partners |
| Expand | 2028 | International (UK, CH, NO), mobile PWA, carbon credit marketplace |
| Lead | 2029 | Category leadership, EU institutional partnerships |
| Evolve | 2030+ | Global expansion, platform ecosystem, predictive funding intelligence |
The Team¶
Carbon Connect is built by Connected Intelligence, a technology company focused on applying artificial intelligence to sustainability challenges.
Expertise¶
| Domain | Capability |
|---|---|
| Software Engineering | Production-grade platform development, modern cloud architecture |
| Artificial Intelligence | ML, NLP, large language model integration |
| Sustainability | Carbon accounting, EU regulatory frameworks, grant program expertise |
| Product Design | UX focused on accessibility for non-technical users |
Investment Highlights¶
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EUR 140B+ Market
Massive, growing market with strong regulatory tailwinds. CSRD alone expands mandatory sustainability reporting to 50,000+ companies.
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AI-Native Platform
Not AI bolted on -- AI is the foundation. Matching, generation, and carbon intelligence all powered by modern ML.
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Production-Ready
533 tests, 60+ endpoints, 7 phases complete. This is not a pitch deck -- it's a working platform.
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Capital Efficient
85% gross margins, 4.5x-7x LTV:CAC, multi-tenant architecture with near-zero marginal cost.
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Clear Moat
Carbon-first architecture, proprietary matching algorithm, data flywheel, and cost structure competitors cannot replicate.
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Clear Path to EUR 22M ARR
Realistic projections based on conservative assumptions. Multiple growth levers: acquisition, ARPU expansion, partner channel.
Contact¶
For investment inquiries, partnership opportunities, or additional information:
- Company: Connected Intelligence
- Product: Carbon Connect -- Carbon Funding Navigator
- Documentation: docs.carbon-connect.io