Deeptech science & data startup Alt Carbon raises $12 million in a Seed funding round

Alt Carbon, a deep-tech science & data startup, has raised $12 million in a seed funding round to build the agricultural infrastructure for climate action. The round was led by Lachy Groom, with participation from existing investors.

The startup said the investment will help accelerate Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) in the Global South and expand Earth Sciences R&D, advance hardware innovations, and scale-up operations for durable climate action in India.

What does Alt Carbon do?

Alt Carbon uses a novel carbon removal method called Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW), which involves sourcing waste basalt rock dust from mines and spreading it across agricultural fields. This volcanic rock, as the startup says, not only improves soil health and crop yields but also reacts naturally with rainwater to remove carbon dioxide. When CO₂ in rainwater interacts with the basalt dust, a chemical reaction converts it into stable bicarbonate ions that are stored in the soil. Over time, these ions travel through river networks to the ocean, where they eventually reside as calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) for over 10,000 years, it said.

Alt Carbon’s flagship initiative, The Darjeeling Revival Project (DRP), is a first-of-its-kind effort to unite climate action with cultural and ecological restoration. With an ambitious goal to remove carbon dioxide at scale, the DRP aims to not just remove CO₂ but also restore livelihoods, revive degraded soils and ecosystems, and preserve India’s most valued export: Darjeeling’s tea.

Leadership comments

“The climate crisis demands bold bets on science innovation, rethinking infrastructure, and deploying capital. Enhanced Rock Weathering is one of the most promising, permanent carbon removal pathways we have, and yet it’s vastly underbuilt," said Co-founder & CEO Shrey Agarwal, Alt Carbon.

"What sets us apart is our obsession with scientific depth: we’re building advanced labs and engineering the scientific backbone of a new era of climate action grounded in the Global South. Extraordinary crises require outsized ambition, and we now have the capital to kickstart a climate revolution and have a shot at gigaton-scale carbon removal,” Agarwal added.

“India needs $1 trillion of climate finance by 2030 alone to adapt our soil, rivers, and cities to climate impact. Globally, we need to remove 10 billion tons of CO₂ every year by 2050. We’re nowhere close to either of these targets. Our goal is to make India a hub for carbon removal. We plan to remove CO₂ at scale from the Global South, for the planet,” said Co-founder & President, Sparsh Agarwal.

He added, “We thank the partners who have joined us in this ambitious, whirlwind journey, to revive Darjeeling, remove CO₂ and undo the clock for this planet.”

Appointing Yashovardhan Bhagat

Alt Carbon also announced the appointment of Yashovardhan Bhagat (former co-founder of ed-tech platform Seekho) as Chief Operating Officer to scale its carbon removal operations across India, Adithya Venkatesan (former brand head at Gojek, Meesho and Last9) to lead the in-house Climate Studio, and Dr. Sourav Ganguly (PhD, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) to lead the science & modelling team.

“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.

"In just 18 months, the team has built a world-class lab, created proprietary models, and laid the foundation for a new class of carbon removal and agricultural infrastructure. This is a category-defining deep-tech company that will reshape how the world thinks about climate action,” Groom added.