Biochar Industrial Group (BIG), a climate-tech startup founded by Releaf Earth executives, has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding to turn agricultural waste from African food factories into carbon-removal credits.
The company will use the funding to deploy pyrolysis equipment at food-processing facilities, where it will convert waste such as nut shells, husks, and cobs into biochar—a charcoal-like material that can store the carbon contained in the original biomass waste. BIG will finance and operate the equipment itself, while the factories supply the waste and receive a share of the resulting value.
BREEGA, an early-stage venture capital firm, led the funding round, with participation from the Catalyst Fund. The Mulago Foundation also provided non-dilutive funding. BIG will also use the capital to hire engineering, operations, logistics, and carbon-verification staff and build systems to monitor and verify the carbon removed through its process.
Africa generates more than 3 billion tonnes of agricultural waste each year, including nut shells, husks, cobs, stalks, and sawdust. Much of that waste has little value to the factories that produce it and can release carbon dioxide as it decomposes. Over 80% of agricultural lands in Africa are degraded, which limits productivity. BIG wants to tackle both problems by turning agricultural waste into biochar, which stores carbon and can be added to soil to improve it.
Originally published by TechCabal.