India-based local weather tech startup Alt Carbon introduced that it has raised $12 million in a seed financing spherical, with proceeds geared toward scaling its Enhanced Rock Weathering resolution to take away and retailer carbon throughout the International South.
In accordance with the corporate, the announcement marks the biggest seed spherical so far for local weather tech in India.
Based in 2023 by brothers Shrey and Sparsh Agarwal, Alt Carbon has set a objective to take away 5 million metric tons of CO2 by 2030, with a give attention to Carbon Dioxide Elimination (CDR) in South Asia, by expertise pathways like Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW). The corporate’s ERW methodology sources basalt rock mud from mines, and spreads it throughout agricultural fields, the place it reacts naturally with rainwater by a chemical response that converts it into secure bicarbonate ions which are saved within the soil, and over time journey by rivers to the ocean, residing as calcium carbonate for over 10,000 years.
Along with eradicating carbon, the method additionally improves soil well being and crop yields, in keeping with Alt Carbon. The corporate stated that its flagship initiative, The Darjeeling Revival Venture (DRP), goals to take away CO2 and to “restore livelihoods, revive degraded soils and ecosystems, and protect India’s most valued export: Darjeeling’s tea.” Up to now two months, Alt Carbon has signed a strategic partnership with Mitsubishi Company, and a ten,000-tonne carbon elimination offtake settlement with MOL Group.
Alt Carbon stated that the brand new capital will assist develop Earth Sciences R&D, advance {hardware} improvements, and scale-up operations for sturdy local weather motion in India, accelerating CDR within the International South.
Alt Carbon Co-founder & President, Sparsh Agarwal, stated:
“Our objective is to make India a hub for carbon elimination. We plan to take away CO2 at scale from the International South, for the planet. We thank the companions who’ve joined us on this formidable, whirlwind journey, to revive Darjeeling, take away CO2 and undo the clock for this planet.”
The seed spherical was led by tech investor and AI startup Bodily Intelligence co-founder and CEO Lachy Groom, and included participation from present buyers.
Groom stated:
“Alt Carbon is tackling a once-in-a-generation problem. The private journey of the founders, their technical method, and bold imaginative and prescient will assist us take away CO₂ from the environment at gigaton scale — all whereas adapting agricultural land for local weather affect. In simply 18 months, the staff has constructed a world-class lab, created proprietary fashions, and laid the muse for a brand new class of carbon elimination and agricultural infrastructure. It is a category-defining deep-tech firm that may reshape how the world thinks about local weather motion.”
