Alt Carbon Bags USD 12 Mn to Power Carbon Removal Innovation
The fresh funds will be deployed to accelerate carbon dioxide removal across the Global South, deepen earth sciences R&D, advance hardware innovations, and scale up its on-ground operations, especially in India.
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Alt Carbon, a Bengaluru-based deeptech startup, has raised USD 12 million (approximately INR 102.8 crore) in a seed funding round led by Lachy Groom, with participation from Shastra VC and a host of angel investors including Jason Zhao, Amrendra Singh, Tanmay Bhat, Arjun Soin, Nakuul Mehta, Arjun Ramani, Advaith Vishwanath, and Rahul Seth.
Founded in 2023 by Shrey Agarwal and Sparsh Agarwal, Alt Carbon is on a mission to transform dormant lands into carbon removal sinks through cutting-edge climate technologies.
The fresh funds will be deployed to accelerate carbon dioxide removal across the Global South, deepen earth sciences R&D, advance hardware innovations, and scale up its on-ground operations, especially in India.
"Alt Carbon is tackling a once-in-a-generation challenge. The personal journey of the founders, their technical approach, and ambitious vision will help us remove CO2 from the atmosphere at gigaton scale—all while adapting agricultural land for climate impact," said Lachy Groom, investor and Co-founder of Physical Intelligence.
Alt Carbon's core technology hinges on Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW)—a scientifically robust process where waste basalt rock dust is spread on farmlands. This dust reacts with rainwater, capturing atmospheric CO₂ and converting it into stable bicarbonates that are stored in soil and oceans for millennia. Not only does ERW sequester carbon, but it also enriches soil fertility and enhances crop yields, delivering a dual benefit to farmers and the planet.
In just 18 months, the Alt Carbon team has established a world-class lab, developed proprietary modeling tools, and laid the groundwork for a new era of agricultural and environmental infrastructure. "Enhanced Rock Weathering is one of the most promising, permanent carbon removal pathways we have, and yet it's vastly underbuilt," said Shrey Agarwal. "We're building advanced labs and engineering the scientific backbone of a new era of climate action grounded in the Global South."
Their flagship initiative, the Darjeeling Revival Project, exemplifies this vision. It combines large-scale carbon removal with ecological restoration, soil rejuvenation, and the revival of tea-based livelihoods in one of India's most vulnerable regions.
Alt Carbon aims to remove 5 million metric tons of CO₂ by 2030 and become South Asia's carbon removal leader. By collaborating with local farming communities and global partners like Frontier and Shopify, Alt Carbon is building a resilient, data-driven approach to climate action—one that puts science, soil, and sustainability at the heart of its mission.
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