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Alt Carbon scores $12M seed to scale carbon removal in India
- Alt Carbon has raised $12 million in a seed round to scale its carbon dioxide removal work in India, focusing on enhanced rock weathering on farmlands.
- The startup was founded by siblings Shrey and Sparsh Agarwal, who transitioned from a struggling family tea estate to this innovative climate venture.
- Alt Carbon utilizes waste basalt rock dust to remove carbon dioxide, improve soil fertility, and enhance crop yields, with plans to expand to 500,000 hectares of land.
- Their approach involves spreading rock dust on farm fields, where it reacts with rainwater to store carbon in the soil as stable bicarbonate ions for thousands of years.
- The startup estimates its carbon credits at $270 per metric ton, offering a cheaper alternative to direct air capture credits, with a goal to reduce costs further in the future.
- Alt Carbon uses rail and diesel trucks for transportation, avoids dedicated rock processing, and has developed a proprietary combination called Hari Maati for farmers.
- The startup employs measurement layers, including reactive transport models and machine learning-driven modeling, adhering closely to carbon removal registry standards.
- Alt Carbon has received approvals from intergovernmental organizations, employs 8 to 10 PhDs, and plans to expand its labs and hardware studio for data collection and analysis.
- The startup secured pre-purchases and advanced market commitments from companies like Stripe, Alphabet, and Meta, as well as a strategic partnership with NextGen for scaling enhanced rock weathering.
- Alt Carbon signed an offtake agreement with Japan's MOL Group to purchase carbon removal credits and is set to deliver its first carbon credits through Isometric within a month.
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