Carbon Removal Startup Funding
In our updated market reports, you will find everything you need
SUMMARY
This report analyzes every publicly disclosed equity round raised by pure-play carbon removal companies between August 2024 and July 2026, a 24-month window covering every geography. We only kept rounds of $300K or more, and excluded broader CCUS, conventional emissions reduction, forestry-only projects, grants, debt, offtake purchases, project finance where equity could not be separated, and companies outside durable carbon removal.
Over this period, fundraising in the carbon removal market was active but selective. The dataset includes 18 disclosed deals and $492.6M raised across 18 unique companies.
Capital in the carbon removal market is heavily concentrated. The top deal alone represents 30.5% of all capital raised, while the top 3 deals account for 51.6%.
The market is not dominated by many late-stage companies. It is Series A-heavy, with Series A rounds representing 55.6% of deals and 55.6% of total capital.
Direct Air Capture leads the carbon removal market by capital raised. The category attracted $260.1M, or 52.8% of all disclosed funding, from 6 deals.
Enhanced Weathering is more visible by deal count than by dollars. It represents 22.2% of deals but only 15.2% of total capital, showing smaller average checks.
North America dominates the carbon removal market by capital. It captured $365.8M, or 74.3% of disclosed funding, from 8 deals.
Europe is active but smaller. It produced 5 deals, or 27.8% of the dataset, but only 12.1% of disclosed capital.
The median round size is $19.5M, below the $27.4M average round size. This confirms that a few large rounds pull the market average upward.
Repeat-investor signals are limited. Lowercarbon Capital appeared in 3 disclosed deals, while Counteract appeared in 2, suggesting the active investor base remains narrow.
What are all the funding deals in the carbon removal market from August 2024 to July 2026?
The table below lists every disclosed equity round raised by pure-play carbon removal companies between August 2024 and July 2026. We count as “pure-play” carbon removal companies those focused on technologies and projects that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it durably.
Each row shows the company, what it does, its category, the deal date, the funding stage, the round size, the region, the main investors when disclosed, and the announcement source.
| Company | What they do | Category | Date | Stage | Deal size | Region | Main investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brineworks | Develops seawater-based carbon removal and hydrogen technology | Ocean Carbon Removal | Sep 2024 | Seed | $2.2M | Europe | Not disclosed | Brineworks |
| Phlair | Builds hydrolyzer-based direct air capture systems | Direct Air Capture | Sep 2024 | Seed | $13.2M | Europe | Lowercarbon Capital; Counteract | EU-Startups |
| Eion | Measures and deploys enhanced rock weathering on farmland | Enhanced Weathering | Sep 2024 | Series A | $3.0M | North America | Not disclosed | AgFunderNews |
| Paebbl | Mineralizes CO2 into carbon-storing building materials | Carbon Mineralization | Oct 2024 | Series A | $25.0M | Europe | Not disclosed | The Next Web |
| Octavia Carbon | Builds direct air capture systems in Kenya | Direct Air Capture | Oct 2024 | Seed | $3.9M | Africa | Not disclosed | TechCrunch |
| Vaulted Deep | Injects organic waste underground for durable biomass carbon removal | Biomass Carbon Removal | Nov 2024 | Series A | $32.3M | North America | Lowercarbon Capital | PR Newswire |
| Heirloom | Uses limestone looping for direct air capture | Direct Air Capture | Dec 2024 | Series B | $150.0M | North America | Lowercarbon Capital | TechCrunch |
| Terradot | Spreads basalt for enhanced rock weathering | Enhanced Weathering | Dec 2024 | Series A | $54.0M | North America | Not disclosed | iGrow News |
| Origen | Develops limestone-based direct air capture | Direct Air Capture | Jan 2025 | Series A | $13.0M | Europe | Not disclosed | Origen |
| Spiritus | Develops low-cost sorbent-based direct air capture | Direct Air Capture | Mar 2025 | Series A | $30.0M | North America | Not disclosed | ESG Today |
| Capture6 | Converts brine waste into water and carbon removal | Carbon Mineralization | Mar 2025 | Series A | $27.5M | North America | Not disclosed | Capture6 |
| Alt Carbon | Uses enhanced rock weathering in South Asian agriculture | Enhanced Weathering | May 2025 | Seed | $12.0M | Asia-Pacific | Not disclosed | TechCrunch |
| Aircapture | Builds modular direct air capture for industrial CO2 users | Direct Air Capture | Jun 2025 | Series A | $50.0M | North America | Not disclosed | ESG Today |
| Terraton | Scales biochar production through standardized local facilities | Biochar Projects | Aug 2025 | Seed | $11.5M | Africa | Not disclosed | Tech Company News |
| Varaha | Develops biochar and farm-based carbon removal projects | Biochar Projects | Feb 2026 | Series B | $20.0M | Asia-Pacific | Not disclosed | TechCrunch |
| Gigablue | Removes and stores atmospheric carbon through ocean processes | Ocean Carbon Removal | Feb 2026 | Series A | $20.0M | Middle East | Not disclosed | ESG Today |
| CREW Carbon | Adds alkaline minerals to wastewater for permanent carbon removal | Carbon Mineralization | May 2026 | Series A | $19.0M | North America | Counteract | Pulse 2.0 |
| InPlanet | Deploys tropical enhanced rock weathering in Brazil | Enhanced Weathering | Jun 2026 | Seed | $6.0M | Europe | Not disclosed | InPlanet |
OUR METHODOLOGY TO BUILD THIS TRACKER
We built this carbon removal funding tracker by reviewing every publicly disclosed equity round raised by pure-play carbon removal companies between August 2024 and July 2026. A company counts as pure-play when more than 80% of its activity is dedicated to durable carbon removal technologies or projects.
We applied four filters to build the dataset. First, we only included equity rounds, so grants, debt, offtake purchases, and project finance without a separable equity component are excluded. Second, we only counted rounds of $300K or more. Third, we only kept pure-play carbon removal companies. And fourth, every entry had to be confirmed by a direct company announcement, a press release, or a tier-1 media report, with the source URL preserved for every row.
We excluded undisclosed-amount rounds from CUR8 and Carbonfuture because including them would have distorted every dollar-based metric in the carbon removal market. We also excluded broader CCUS, conventional emissions reduction, forestry-only reforestation, grants, debt, prize awards, and NewMarketPitch. The final dataset contains 18 disclosed deals across 18 unique companies, and every average, median, share, and concentration ratio is computed on that disclosed sample.
Capture6 is included with a caveat. The company described the raise as a Series A and project funding round led by financial investors, but the source does not split the Series A equity component from project funding. For an ultra-strict disclosed-equity-only view, Capture6 should be removed and $27.5M should be subtracted from all dollar totals.
How active has fundraising been in the carbon removal market?
As of July 2026, fundraising in the carbon removal market has been steady but selective. Over the past 24 months, pure-play carbon removal companies raised 18 disclosed equity rounds and $492.6M combined.
That works out to 0.78 deals per month on average, with a median of 1 deal per month. The market produced regular financing activity, but not a broad wave of company formation.
Dollar flow was much more uneven than deal flow. Average monthly capital was $21.4M, while the median month raised only $6.0M, which shows how much a few months shaped the total.
The average round size was $27.4M, but the median was $19.5M. The typical financing was meaningful, but the headline average was pulled upward by larger rounds like Heirloom and Terradot.
How concentrated has fundraising been in the carbon removal market?
As of July 2026, fundraising in the carbon removal market has been highly concentrated. Over the past 24 months, the top 1 deal accounted for 30.5% of all capital raised, while the top 3 deals accounted for 51.6%.
The top 5 deals represented 64.2% of total disclosed capital, and the top 10 represented 86.8%. That means most of the dollar story comes from a small group of companies, not from a broad base of similarly funded startups.
Heirloom’s $150M Series B is the clearest example. It alone represents nearly one-third of all disclosed carbon removal funding in the dataset.
This concentration matters because carbon removal totals can look stronger than the underlying market depth. A few large rounds can create the impression of broad momentum even when many categories remain lightly funded.
How much of the carbon removal funding signal is driven by outliers?
As of July 2026, a large share of the carbon removal funding signal is driven by outliers. Over the past 24 months, only 2 deals were above $50M, but those two rounds contributed $204.0M combined.
Those two megarounds were Heirloom at $150.0M and Terradot at $54.0M. Together, they represented 41.4% of all disclosed capital in the carbon removal market.
Only one deal, Heirloom, crossed $100M. That single round represented 30.5% of the entire dataset, so it should be treated as a company-specific signal rather than a normal market benchmark.
Excluding rounds above $50M reduces total capital from $492.6M to $288.6M. That makes the core non-megaround carbon removal market much smaller than the headline figure suggests.
Is the carbon removal market broad with many targets, or narrow with few fundable companies?
As of July 2026, the carbon removal market is narrow rather than broad. Over the past 24 months, the dataset includes only 18 disclosed deals across 18 unique companies.
The market does show category diversity. Direct Air Capture, Enhanced Weathering, Carbon Mineralization, Biomass Carbon Removal, Biochar Projects, and Ocean Carbon Removal all appear in the dataset.
But the number of fundable companies in each category remains small. Direct Air Capture leads with 6 deals, Enhanced Weathering follows with 4, and every other category has 3 deals or fewer.
This means carbon removal is not lacking technical variety, but it is still lacking a large population of companies that can raise disclosed institutional equity. The market map is broader than the financing map.
Is carbon removal mostly an early-stage formation market or a late-stage scaling market?
As of July 2026, the carbon removal market is mostly an early-to-mid-stage market, not a late-stage scaling market. Over the past 24 months, Seed and Series A rounds represented 65.5% of total disclosed capital.
Series A is the central financing stage. It accounts for 10 of 18 deals and $273.8M, or 55.6% of both deal count and capital.
Seed activity is visible but small. Seed rounds account for 6 deals, or one-third of the dataset, but only $48.8M, or 9.9% of total capital.
Series B and above account for $170.0M, or 34.5% of total capital, across only 2 deals. There were no Series C, Series D+, or growth equity rounds in the eligible dataset, which is an important maturity signal.
Which categories attract the most investor attention in carbon removal?
As of July 2026, Direct Air Capture attracts the most investor attention in the carbon removal market by capital. Over the past 24 months, DAC companies raised $260.1M across 6 disclosed deals.
That gives Direct Air Capture 52.8% of all disclosed capital and 33.3% of all disclosed deals. Investors are writing larger checks for DAC than for most other carbon removal categories.
Enhanced Weathering ranks second by deal count, with 4 deals and $75.0M raised. It has clear investor interest, but its 15.2% capital share is below its 22.2% deal share.
Carbon Mineralization ranks third by capital, with $71.5M across 3 deals. Its median round size of $25.0M suggests the category can support mid-sized Series A financings when industrial integration is credible.
Which categories attract disproportionately large checks in the carbon removal market?
As of July 2026, Direct Air Capture attracts disproportionately large checks in the carbon removal market. Over the past 24 months, it captured 52.8% of capital from only 33.3% of deals, giving it a capital-share to deal-share ratio of 1.58.
Biomass Carbon Removal also looks large by this ratio, at 1.18, but that signal comes from one Vaulted Deep round. With only one deal, it is better read as company-specific confidence than category-wide momentum.
Carbon Mineralization sits close to parity, with 14.5% of capital and 16.7% of deals. That suggests the category is financeable, but not yet pulling away from the market average.
Ocean Carbon Removal has the weakest ratio, at 0.41. Investors are willing to fund the category, but they are not yet underwriting large deployments at the same level as DAC or mineralization.
Which geographies matter most for fundraising in the carbon removal market?
As of July 2026, North America matters most for fundraising in the carbon removal market. Over the past 24 months, North American companies raised $365.8M, or 74.3% of all disclosed capital.
North America also led by deal count, with 8 of 18 disclosed rounds. Its average round size was $45.7M, and its median round size was $31.2M.
Europe was the second-largest geography by deal count, with 5 deals. But those companies raised only $59.4M, or 12.1% of total capital, showing a smaller financing profile.
Asia-Pacific raised $32.0M across 2 deals, while Africa raised $15.4M across 2 deals. The Middle East appeared through one $20.0M ocean carbon removal round from Gigablue.
Is the carbon removal opportunity set broad or concentrated in one hub?
As of July 2026, the carbon removal opportunity set is geographically broad in activity but concentrated in capital. Over the past 24 months, eligible deals appeared across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.
That geographic spread matters because carbon removal projects often depend on local geology, energy, biomass, land, or water access. The market is not purely a Silicon Valley software-style funding map.
Still, the dollar center is clearly North America. The region’s 74.3% capital share is much larger than its 44.4% deal share, which shows that its companies raise much larger rounds.
Europe shows the opposite pattern. It represents 27.8% of deals but only 12.1% of capital, meaning European carbon removal startups are active but generally smaller-funded.
Is carbon removal a market of small experiments or scaled financings?
As of July 2026, carbon removal is a market of mixed financing sizes, with a small number of scaled rounds and many moderate rounds. Over the past 24 months, the median round size was $19.5M.
Only 3 deals were below $5M, while 6 deals were between $5M and $20M. Another 6 deals were between $20M and $50M, showing a dense middle of seed-to-Series-A financing.
Rounds above $50M were rare. Only Heirloom and Terradot crossed that threshold, and only Heirloom crossed $100M.
This size pattern suggests the carbon removal market is still proving which models can scale. Investors are funding multiple methods, but only a few companies are receiving infrastructure-style venture checks.
Who are the investors that appear the most in carbon removal fundraising?
As of July 2026, repeat-investor signals in the carbon removal market are limited. Over the past 24 months, only two investors appeared in more than one disclosed eligible deal.
Lowercarbon Capital appeared in 3 disclosed deals: Phlair, Vaulted Deep, and Heirloom. That pattern suggests a portfolio approach across durable carbon removal, especially DAC and biomass carbon removal.
Counteract appeared in 2 disclosed deals: Phlair and CREW Carbon. Its activity spans DAC and carbon mineralization, which suggests interest in more than one technical pathway.
The small repeat-investor count is important. It shows that the carbon removal investor ecosystem remains narrow, and that many rounds still depend on one-off investor syndicates rather than a deep pool of repeat category specialists.
INSIGHTS
The insights below come from reviewing every disclosed equity round in the carbon removal market between August 2024 and July 2026. They are not row-by-row summaries. They are the reusable patterns that kept showing up across the 18-deal dataset, and they are meant to stay useful when reading future carbon removal funding announcements.
The carbon removal market is still Series A-heavy, not late-stage. Series A rounds represent 55.6% of both deals and capital. That makes Series A the main institutional validation point, while the absence of Series C and later rounds remains a key negative signal.
Direct Air Capture dominates the capital narrative. DAC holds 52.8% of disclosed funding but only 33.3% of deals. That means investors are writing larger checks for DAC platforms than for other carbon removal methods.
The market’s headline size depends heavily on Heirloom. Heirloom’s $150M Series B accounts for 30.5% of all disclosed capital. Any market reading that treats this as a typical round will overstate financing depth.
Top-deal concentration is the defining feature of the dataset. The top 3 deals account for 51.6% of capital, and the top 10 reach 86.8%. Carbon removal funding is therefore a concentrated financing market, not a broad-based capital wave.
Removing megarounds changes the market picture sharply. Capital excluding rounds above $50M falls from $492.6M to $288.6M. The non-megaround market is closer to a sub-$300M opportunity over the period.
Deal activity is steadier than capital activity. The median month has 1 deal, but the median monthly capital total is only $6.0M. Many active months are small validation months rather than scale-financing months.
Enhanced Weathering has investor interest but smaller checks. It represents 22.2% of deals and only 15.2% of capital. The category is getting funded, but investor conviction has not yet translated into DAC-sized rounds.
Biochar is visible but undercapitalized. Biochar Projects hold 11.1% of deals and 6.4% of capital. That suggests the category is active, but not yet attracting infrastructure-scale equity checks.
Ocean Carbon Removal is still being seeded cautiously. It has the lowest capital-share to deal-share ratio, at 0.41. Investors are willing to test the category, but not yet at large deployment scale.
Carbon Mineralization looks more financeable than its deal count suggests. The category has only 3 deals but a median round size of $25.0M. Industrial integration stories appear to support mid-sized Series A financings.
Biomass Carbon Removal should not be overinterpreted as a category signal. Vaulted Deep is the only eligible deal in the category. One round cannot prove broad investor momentum.
The average round size overstates the typical financing. The average round was $27.4M, while the median was $19.5M. This confirms that the financing distribution is right-skewed.
Seed activity is real but not capital-heavy. Seed rounds account for one-third of deals but only 9.9% of capital. The pipeline exists, but most capital waits until Series A.
Series B rounds show how quickly capital needs rise. Series B deals represent only 11.1% of deals but 34.5% of capital. Once companies move beyond early commercialization, check sizes increase sharply.
North America dominates by round size, not only by company count. It captures 74.3% of dollars from 44.4% of deals. The region’s advantage is larger financings, not just more activity.
Europe is active but smaller-funded. Europe has 27.8% of deals and only 12.1% of capital. European carbon removal startups are visible, but their financing profile remains more seed-to-Series-A weighted.
Africa appears as an emerging deployment geography. Octavia Carbon and Terraton show early activity, but both are seed-stage. The region is present, but not yet a large capital destination.
Asia-Pacific activity is tied to Global South project models. Alt Carbon and Varaha are both linked to low-cost land, biomass, or agricultural deployment. This suggests APAC’s role may be more operational than hardware-platform-driven.
The repeat-investor base remains narrow. Lowercarbon Capital and Counteract are the only investors with more than one disclosed eligible deal. That is a sign of a still-specialized investor ecosystem.
Commercial validation and financing validation should be separated. Carbon removal offtake announcements can be larger and more visible than equity rounds. A large buyer agreement does not automatically imply venture-scale fundability.
Taxonomy matters enormously in carbon removal. Excluding forestry-only reforestation, grants, debt, prizes, and project finance materially changes the market. Broad CCUS lists will overcount this opportunity.
The best diligence signal is not fundraising alone. Delivered tonnes, verified MRV, repeat offtake, and repeat investor support should be weighted together. A seed round plus a technical claim is not enough evidence of durable category leadership.
Brineworks (Brineworks Seed), EU-Startups (Phlair Seed), AgFunderNews (Eion Series A extension), The Next Web (Paebbl Series A), TechCrunch (Octavia Carbon Seed), PR Newswire (Vaulted Deep Series A), TechCrunch (Heirloom Series B), iGrow News (Terradot Series A), Origen (Origen Series A), ESG Today (Spiritus Series A), Capture6 (Capture6 Series A and project funding), TechCrunch (Alt Carbon Seed), ESG Today (Aircapture Series A), Tech Company News (Terraton Seed), TechCrunch (Varaha Series B tranche), ESG Today (Gigablue Series A), Pulse 2.0 (CREW Carbon Series A), InPlanet (InPlanet Seed)
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