Vaulted Deep, a carbon removal company that injects organic waste underground, has secured up to $35 million in debt financing from Italian bank Mediobanca. The money is meant to expand Vaulted's U.S. operations, which currently include sites in Kansas and California. The deal stands out because debt financing is still rare in the carbon removal sector, where most funding has come from equity or advance credit purchases. The financing builds on Vaulted's existing offtake contracts with Microsoft and Frontier buyers. Vaulted says it has removed over 27,000 metric tons of CO2 for Frontier buyers in 2026, up 39% from all of 2025. The company also earns revenue from waste management, which gives it a more stable income base alongside carbon credit sales. Industry watchers see this as a proof point that corporate offtake agreements can unlock institutional lending for removal projects. It also comes at a time when Microsoft has paused new removal deals, so the broader market is still testing how durable the demand side will be.
