How we built a complex carbon credit registry from scratch for a start-up - quickly, reliably and to enterprise-ready quality.
Client websiteMitigia is a start-up-funded company whose goal is the end-to-end generation, certification, registration and sale of carbon credits. These are audited certificates created through carbon emission reductions resulting from the green transition, which can be sold on the voluntary carbon market for offsetting purposes.
Under the rules of the voluntary carbon market, switching to electric vehicles, generating or storing green energy, and material recycling all produce carbon emission reductions. These can be certified and then sold on the voluntary market to organisations that want to offset their residual carbon footprint. Mitigia has the methodologies and processes this requires.
For this business, the complete IT back end had to be built, laying the foundations of the digital MRV (Monitoring, Reporting & Verification) software that the company provides as SaaS.
What made the project special was that we had to deliver a technology solution for an entirely new, still-emerging business model - while the business process itself was continuously taking shape. Mitigia's team was the first to develop digital MRV software in Hungary.
FrontX was approached on the recommendation of a consultant and engaged for end-to-end development. The project was complex in several respects:
Greenfield developmentThere was no legacy system - everything started from zero.
A new business domainCarbon crediting required specialist mathematical calculations and market regulation logic.
Requirements defined in parallelThe client had Figma designs, but detailed user stories were written and refined in parallel with development.
Continuously changing scopeDriven by investor expectations and market feedback, features and the business model itself expanded and changed during development.
Two-way accountabilityThe system had to be fit both for investor validation and for compliance with certification bodies.
Business profile and market environmentThe client's team consisted mainly of business people with a strong business vision - operating, however, in a fluid market with an incomplete regulatory framework, which naturally affected both delivery and plans.
The FrontX team was led by an experienced project manager / business analyst who guided the project from the first meeting to go-live. The methodology was flexible but structured.
Starting from the existing Figma designs, the team worked through the client's ideas and turned them into structured user stories. Domain-specific knowledge (carbon calculation formulas, sources of variables) was taken over from the business through Excel-based derivations, with a great deal of support from the client's team.
The project was delivered in three main iteration phases over roughly six to seven months. Although there was no classic two-week sprint structure, the project manager documented progress in weekly status emails: what had been completed, what was committed for the following week, and what had not been delivered on time (and why).
"We made no empty promises. What we committed to, we delivered - and we always put it in writing."
The system had to run on AWS cloud infrastructure - a requirement set by the client. Mitigia's team arrived with specific expectations based on a previous, similar AWS implementation. Early in the project we found that the initial infrastructure settings were not cost-optimal. We built this lesson into our delivery process: since then, every AWS-based project includes a dedicated cost-optimisation review early in implementation.
The application uses a classic enterprise architecture, with a Java Spring Boot back end and an Angular front end.
FrontX delivered the full scope of the original request. The completed digital MRV 1.0 platform enabled Mitigia to:
Both parties closed the project satisfied, and Mitigia was able to launch its real business operations on the platform. "We experienced it as a difficult but very successful project, both as a company and on the client side. In the end, both sides got up from the table satisfied."
Start with business analysisA short discovery phase of one to three weeks, mapping how mature the requirements and the business model really are, drastically reduces surprises during development. For venture-backed businesses building a novel business model, continuously changing requirements are business as usual.
Document scope from visual designsWhen visual designs (e.g. Figma) are available, a milestone breakdown can be prepared from them at contract signature - which protects both parties.
Flexibility can be plannedIn a start-up environment, scope change is unavoidable. Handled up front as a change request process, it becomes controlled change management rather than conflict. Change requests often come from outside: not from the client's team, but from its investors.
Cloud costs can be a surpriseEven for an early-stage start-up. Build a dedicated cost-optimisation review into the design phase rather than treating it as an after-the-fact correction.
Domain knowledge can be acquiredThe novelty of carbon crediting was no obstacle. The FrontX team adapted quickly and delivered real value in an industry that was new to it.
If you are facing a greenfield build or a complex business domain, we would be glad to talk through how we would approach it. No obligation.
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