By late 2023, Alt Carbon became the first company to be commercially launched on carbon removal technology. Recently, they raised a remarkable $12 million in a seed funding round. Born from the minds of brothers Shrey and Sparsh Agarwal, most of them plan to address climate change through new, improved ways of carbon sequestration. This funding round was led by Lachy Groom, demonstrating the excitement in Lachy Groom’s belief in Alt Carbon’s mission and methodologies.
The company is now looking to replicate its model on 500,000 hectares of land throughout India. Alt Carbon runs laboratories in Darjeeling and Bengaluru. Their team of 25 people, which includes 8 to 10 PhD researchers on staff, provides expertise that has been critical to the company’s carbon removal efforts.
Alt Carbon began its pilot project on approximately 500 acres of land within the Agarwals’ family tea estate, strategically chosen for its agricultural potential. Alt Carbon employs enhanced rock weathering as the basis of its tech. For some projects, they use basalt rock waste dust, mined in the volcanic igneous province of Rajmahal Traps in Eastern India. This process converts CO 2 into a stable mineralized form. It provides for long-term carbon storage, sequestering carbon indefinitely.
Hari Maati, meaning “green soil” in Hindi, is a new potent blend Alt Carbon has developed. This new combination is designed to improve the impact by an order of magnitude. This unique blend of basalt and organic ingredients not only accelerates the conditions for enhanced rock weathering, but it helps to maximize the potential for carbon capture.
Alt Carbon is a new, exciting player in the carbon removal space. It has raised truly astounding financial commitments, including a $500,000 pre-purchase agreement from Frontier and a $1 billion advanced market commitment from heavyweights like Stripe, Alphabet, Meta, Shopify, and McKinsey. These collaborations afford Alt Carbon financial support along with verification of their model amidst an ever-evolving carbon credits market.
The company values its future carbon credits at $270 per metric ton. It hopes to sequester an impressive 5 million tons of carbon within the region by 2030. Alt Carbon expects to bring its first carbon credits to market in less than a month thanks to the partnership with Isometric.
It’s all about quality Sparsh Agarwal reiterated the need for quality in carbon markets, underscoring that
“Within carbon markets, our realization was that a lot of the projects in India, which are more avoidance-based, are of very low quality, and they produce junk credits.”
This declaration reflects the firm’s commitment to creating quality carbon credits. These credits help make real progress against climate change.
The founders believe that through their innovative practices and strategic partnerships, Alt Carbon can redefine the landscape of carbon removal in India. They’re integrating sustainable farming practices with advanced technology. Their vision is to show that what’s good for the environment can be good for local economies.