Biochar Industrial Group raises $1.5m pre-seed to turn African agri waste into carbon removal credits

Biochar Industrial Group (BIG), a climate tech startup based in sub-Saharan Africa, has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding led by BREEGA, with participation from The Catalyst Fund. The company plans to scale its biochar-as-a-service model, partnering with food factories to convert agricultural waste like nut shells and husks into biochar via continuous pyrolysis. This process traps carbon in a stable form, generating carbon removal credits while producing a soil amendment that can restore degraded farmland. BIG will co-locate pyrolysis units at food processing sites, turning disposal costs into shared revenue for processors. The founders previously built industrial infrastructure in Nigeria, which gives them operational experience. Africa produces over a billion tonnes of non-edible agricultural biomass annually, and the region faces severe soil degradation, so the model addresses both waste management and soil health. However, execution risks remain, including verification of carbon credits and the energy requirements of pyrolysis units.