A Singapore-based agri-tech startup has raised $31 million in a Series B financing round to scale low-emission rice production across Southeast Asia.

Paper park - The Australian subsidiary of Nippon Paper Industries has launched a softwood tree plantation and carbon credit generation project in the Green Triangle region of Victoria, it announced. The company said after operating a hardwood tree plantation business, it had decided to switch to softwood species for reforestation now that its existing plantations have reached maturity. It will gradually convert existing hardwood tree plantations into softwood, and by 2028 will establish around 1,500 ha of softwood plantations to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). Nippon said it will explore expanding to 10,000 ha as part of Phase 2 of the project. The company has already registered the carbon project (ERF208261) with the Clean Energy Regulator, and expects credits to be generated from 2027.