California Dairies, Inc. and DSM Venturing Complete Strategic Investment in Athian

INDIANAPOLIS, IN [May1,2023] — Athian (athian.ai) announces the completion of their seed funding round with investments from two strategic partners: DSM Venturing, the corporate venture arm of Royal DSM, a global, purpose-led company in Health, Nutrition & Bioscience, and California Dairies, Inc. (CDI), the largest dairy farmer-owned cooperative in California and second largest in the United States. Athian, the world’s first carbon marketplace for the livestock sector, advances the global acceptance of its novel transactional carbon credit inset program with this investment from DSM Venturing and CDI, along with previous investors, Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE: ELAN), Tyson Ventures and Newtrient LLC.

This game-changing innovation provides livestock producers with economic incentives for on-farm sustainability practices, while helping improve global food system sustainability and reducing climate warming. "CDI's membership has been leading the way in sustainable dairy farming investments, and we continue to move as fast as technology and on-farm economics allow," said Simon Vander Woude, chairman of the board at CDI. "This is an opportunity to showcase that hard work while doubling down to drive innovation and further improve our environmental footprint, ensuring that our farms produce some of the most sustainable milk in the world, across all the various pillars of sustainability."

“We are excited by CDI and DSM Venturing’s enthusiasm for our innovative carbon marketplace platform. The groundswell of support has been tremendous” said Paul Myer, CEO of Athian. “This announcement not only expedites our reach into international markets but also accelerates practical environmental solutions that give farmers new revenue streams and helps companies deliver on their sustainability commitments throughout the value chain.”

Athian’s carbon credit insetting platform will enable livestock farmers who implement sustainable practices the ability to earn revenue to fund those initiatives. Athian’s key mission is to help the beef and dairy value chains capture and claim carbon credits earned through sustainability efforts. Athian aggregates, validates, and certifies, greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, and monetizes those reductions through the sale of carbon credits which offer value to the supply chain as important carbon assets related to Scope 3 emissions.

“Global climate change requires all of us working together. And now, Athian can deliver on our goal of connecting the whole value chain,” said Myer. “By joining forces with investors like CDI, DSM Venturing and others throughout the livestock industry, we have a unique opportunity, with all the voices at the table, to support sustainability practice changes through carbon incentives. Together we can move the needle on climate change.”

In connection with these investments, Scott Horner, Regional Managing Director North America at DSM Venturing, and Darrin Montiero, Vice President of Sustainability at CDI, will join the Athian Board of Directors in an observer capacity.

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About Athian
At Athian, we are technology experts with farming in our genes. We enable environmental sustainability for animal agriculture because we believe in being good stewards of the earth’s resources for generations to come. We use software to aggregate, certify, and fund greenhouse gas reductions throughout the entire livestock value chain. Athian’s platform is an industry-based analytics tool that enables the livestock industry to improve sustainability by providing carbon credits. Athian’s carbon credit marketplace provides quality greenhouse gas credits that fund livestock producers’ sustainability measures. Athian is a High Alpha Innovation company based in Indianapolis, Ind. Learn how to join us in this effort at www.Athian.ai.

About California Dairies, Inc.
California Dairies, Inc. is the largest member-owned milk marketing and processing cooperative in California, producing approximately 40 percent of California's milk. Co-owned by over 300 dairy producers who ship nearly 17 billion pounds of Real California Milk annually, California Dairies, Inc. is a manufacturer of quality butter, fluid milk products and milk powders. In addition, California Dairies, Inc. is the home of two leading and well-respected brands of butter – Challenge and Danish Creamery. California Dairies, Inc.'s quality dairy products are available in all 50 United States and in more than 50 foreign countries. For additional information on California Dairies, Inc., visit www.CaliforniaDairies.com.

About DSM Venturing
DSM Venturing is the corporate venture arm of Royal DSM a global, purpose-led company in health, nutrition and bioscience, applying science to improve the health of people, animals and the planet. DSM's purpose is to create brighter lives for all. DSM's products and solutions address some of the world's biggest challenges while simultaneously creating economic, environmental, and societal value for all its stakeholders – customers, employees, shareholders, and society at large. The company was founded in 1902 and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.