Can Carbon Removal from the Global South Save the Net-Zero Agenda?

TL;DR: Varaha has successfully raised $20M to scale its 'Industrial Partners Program,' turning agricultural waste in India and West Africa into verified carbon removal credits. As AI workloads increase energy demand, the market for low-cost, execution-focused carbon removal from the Global South has reached a fever pitch.

Why is Varaha Betting on 'Execution' Over 'Proprietary Tech'?

In the climate-tech world, many startups fail because they spend too much on R&D for proprietary hardware. Varaha’s 2026 strategy is different: they are open-sourcing their measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems to industrial partners. By partnering with steel producers and agribusinesses to generate biochar-based removals, they are scaling via infrastructure that already exists.

The Biochar Revolution: Turning Biomass into Value

Biochar—a stable form of carbon produced from biomass—is becoming the preferred method for verified emissions reductions. For Indian agriculture, this means a new revenue stream: smallholder farmers can now monetize the waste they used to burn, contributing to a circular economy while helping global tech giants offset their growing data center footprints.

Vichaarak Perspective

We've spent years debating "carbon offsets" that were often just accounting tricks. Varaha is shifting the needle toward "carbon removal"—a tangible, physical process. By leveraging the lower operating costs of the Global South, they are making sustainability affordable for the rest of the world. It’s a classic case of India exporting execution excellence to solve a global crisis.

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Related Reading: - Varaha: secures $20M Series B to scale carbon removal - 1.5 Degree: Why This Startup is Betting Big on India’s B2B Dairy Shift

Analysis by Harkirat Singh (@harkirat1892), with insights from the frontlines of tech-led sustainability.