Merger creates Europe’s first full-stack forest carbon platform and positions it for growth in the expanding market for nature-based solutions
Munich / Dornbirn, July 2025 - Pina Earth and Tree.ly are European climate tech companies connecting corporate buyers with high-quality carbon projects from local forest owners. In a strategic move, the two have joined forces to build Europe’s first full-stack forest carbon platform. The new entity combines strengths in software, project development, and sales to deliver greater scale, transparency, and regional impact for both landowners and carbon buyers.
The combined operations span Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Hungary with:
This makes the new company the largest tech-enabled forest carbon project developer in Europe and the clear market leader in the DACH region with 5x annual revenue growth.
Carbon buyers can now invest in a broader, more scalable portfolio of nature-based projects, covering multiple methodologies, certification standards, and geographies within the DACH region and beyond. Buyers benefit from access to large volumes of certified credits, high transparency and a continued strong focus on biodiversity co-benefits and regional impact.
For forest owners, the combined offering simplifies certification across different project types and geographies with a single, trusted partner and provides improved access to long-term buyers.
“We founded Pina Earth to ensure Europe has healthy forests for generations to come,” said Dr. Gesa Biermann, co-founder of Pina Earth. “I’m so excited to join forces with Tree.ly to scale our impact even faster - and provide companies with the regional, high-integrity carbon credits they’re asking for.”
Both companies share the conviction that software and automation are key to unlock nature-based solutions at scale. Pina Earth’s proprietary forest simulation software will be integrated into Tree.ly’s broader certification platform, improving project development efficiency, transparency, and expanding support for diverse methodologies.
The combined entity will not only be able to work under different climate standards (e.g. ISO, WKS, and others), but also cover multiple project methodologies such as IFM, ARR, Conservation, and forest adaptation across Europe. This enables more forest owners – regardless of forest size or region – to develop certified climate projects.
“Technology is the only way we can meet climate targets at the scale required,” said Jodok Batlogg, Co-Founder & CEO of Tree.ly. “With this merger, we’re bringing the strongest tools and best teams in the market together to make forest carbon projects faster, simpler, and more reliable – for landowners and buyers alike.”
As climate change puts increasing pressure on Europe’s forests, the need for scalable, high-integrity nature-based solutions is more urgent than ever. The merger accelerates both companies’ impact to close the vast financing gap for forest protection and biodiversity, while making it easier for companies to invest in audited, regionally sourced carbon credits.
The merger also contributes to a consolidation of Europe’s fragmented carbon developer landscape and positions the combined entity to anticipate future regulation, including evolving EU frameworks such as the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF). These policy shifts underscore the growing importance of quality-driven, European-based carbon removal solutions.
“This is a defining moment for European forest carbon markets,” said Nadja Bresous Mehigan, Partner at XAnge and lead investor in Pina Earth. “The merger is a strategic step toward defining the future category leader in European forest carbon, combining scalable tech, methodological excellence, and the trust of both landowners and buyers.”
The combined company will operate under the Pina Earth brand and will be led by Tree.ly founders Jodok Batlogg and Christian Lutz, both experienced serial founders with a strong track record of scaling tech ventures. After years of building deep-tech companies with a global focus, Jodok is applying his expertise to strengthen climate solutions within Europe. For Christian, this role marks the culmination of a series of ventures, each leading toward what he sees as his most important mission yet: advancing nature-based climate solutions at scale. Their leadership brings deep operational and strategic expertise for the company’s next growth phase.
Pina Earth co-founders, Dr. Gesa Biermann and Florian Fincke, will transition into strategic advisory roles to support integration and help shape the company’s long-term vision. Having successfully built Pina Earth from the ground up and led it through its early growth, the founders will remain closely involved in ensuring the values, rigor, and impact focus remain at the core of the new company.
“After building and leading Pina Earth through its early growth, this is the right moment to hand over day-to-day leadership,” said Dr. Gesa Biermann. “The merger marks a new phase of scale, and I’m excited to continue supporting it strategically, focusing on long-term impact, partnerships, and governance.”
The company will maintain hubs in Munich, Berlin, and Dornbirn. In the coming months, integration efforts will focus on expanding commercial reach, scaling technology, and preparing for a Series A financing round.
Together, Pina Earth and Tree.ly are setting a new standard for climate integrity, regional impact, and software-enabled scale in Europe’s carbon markets.
If you are interested in further information or an interview with the founders, please contact press@pina.earth.
Pina Earth develops certified climate projects that remove carbon from local forests in Germany. By transforming vulnerable monocultures into biodiverse, climate-resilient ecosystems, these projects sequester additional CO₂ and strengthen forests against heat, storms, and drought. With over 30 million square meters of forest under adaptation management, Pina Earth is the market leader for forest carbon projects in Germany. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) named Pina Earth “Digital Start-up of the Year 2024.” For the latest updates on Pina Earth, visit: https://www.pina.earth/ | https://www.linkedin.com/company/pina-de/.
Press Contact Pina Earth:
Dr. Christine Rzepka
Pina Technologies GmbH
E-Mail: press@pina.earth
Tree.ly develops certified forest climate projects with a focus on the DACH region and additional projects in Italy, Hungary, and Switzerland, with more to follow. By acting as the bridge between forest owners and companies, Tree.ly ensures that climate contributions lead to measurable impact in local forests. Combining science-based methods, regional partnerships, and digital tools, the company supports forest owners in implementing climate-relevant measures such as regeneration, afforestation, or improvements to forest infrastructure. At the same time, companies contribute to their climate goals through high-quality carbon credits. All Tree.ly projects are verified by TÜV according to ISO 14064-2, covering over 60,000 hectares of forest.
Press Contact Tree.ly:
Tobias Sutterlüty
Tree.ly FlexCo
E-Mail: press@tree.ly
Dr. Gesa Biermann is the co-founder and CEO of Pina Earth. Before founding the company, Gesa completed her PhD in sustainability at Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, was part of the leadership team at the Center of Digital Technology and Management (CDTM), and founded a non-profit consultancy for social enterprises (180 Degrees Consulting Munich e.V.). Her first entrepreneurial venture took place during her studies when she co-founded and successfully exited a fashion brand.
Florian Fincke is co-founder and CTO of Pina Earth, where he leads the development of scalable software for forest-based carbon projects. Before founding Pina Earth, he worked as Lead Frontend Developer at Alasco, among other early-stage ventures. He holds a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction, a B.Sc. in Human-Machine Interaction, and completed the Honors Degree in Technology Management at the CDTM (Center for Digital Technology and Management), a joint institution of TU Munich and LMU.
Jodok Batlogg is co-founder and CEO of Tree.ly and brings a deep background in technology and entrepreneurship to the climate space. Before founding Tree.ly in 2021, he co-founded and led Crate.io, a data infrastructure company, and previously served as CTO at StudiVZ and Sevenload. After exiting Crate.io, he turned his focus to climate impact and launched Tree.ly to unlock the ecological and economic value of forests. His experience in building distributed tech teams and scalable platforms now supports the development of digital infrastructure for forest-based carbon projects across Europe.
Christian Lutz is co-founder and CCO of Tree.ly. He brings the experience of building and scaling five successful tech companies, including Crate.io, a company focused on distributed databases, Impossible, known for reviving Polaroid, and UCP, one of the early pioneers in Europe’s mobile internet space. Christian has led over 20 venture capital rounds and built companies through multiple successful exits. For more than 15 years, he has also been a board member of the TGW Future Foundation.
Dr. Gesa Biermann is co-founder and CEO of the ClimateTech start-up Pina Earth. Pina Earth enables forest owners to finance forest conversion and thus create climate-resilient forests throughout Germany. Before founding the company, Gesa completed her doctorate in sustainability at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, was part of the management team at the Center of Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) and founded a non-profit consultancy for social enterprises (180 Degrees Consulting Munich e.V.).
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