Mati Carbon’s 2024 in Review: A Year of Growth, Recognition, and Possibilities
As we move into 2025, we wanted to take a minute to reflect on the year gone by. Mati Carbon is thrilled to reflect on this year of significant milestones, groundbreaking partnerships, and global impact. This year has been pivotal in advancing our mission of enabling scalable and permanent carbon dioxide removal (CDR) while fostering climate resilience for smallholder farmers across the Global South
A Year of Growth
Scaling Operations in India: Partnering with over 10,000 registered farmers, Mati has deployed over 80,000 tons of basalt dust across six districts and three states. This initiative is set to sequester over 20,000 tons of CO2 while enriching soil health and increasing crop yields. It has also generated $1.0 million in additional income for farmers in 2024 alone.
We also opened new bases to expand across India with full operations underway in 3 states and ongoing trials in others.
Mati’s farmer partner in Nawagaon Chhattisgarh, showing increase in crop yield of the harvested crop
Expansion in Africa: We are proud to state that we have expanded our operations in Africa in our target regions in Tanzania, and Zambia. Africa’s potential for ERW is immense, and our work here lays the foundation for long-term impact. These efforts aim to regenerate degraded soils and enhance food security, positioning Africa as a leader in ERW adoption. By addressing soil degradation and food insecurity, we are creating a model for sustainable development that can be replicated across the continent.
Overwhelming response from farmers for Mati’s Zambia project
Team Growth: To support our expanding operations, Mati Carbon added 45 new members in 2024. This growth enables us to manage new deployment bases and trials across three countries. Each new member brings expertise and passion, strengthening our ability to innovate and execute at scale.
Mati Team at our annual Offsite in Madhya Pradesh, India
Major Partnerships
Delivery of Carbon Credits to Frontier Climate: Earlier in 2024, Mati Carbon became the first company to deliver Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW)-based carbon removal credits to Frontier Climate. This delivery validates our advanced digital MRV system built specifically for smallholder farmers and sets a benchmark for reliability and scalability in CDR. Further deliveries in November demonstrated the robustness of our approach.
Purchase Agreement with major industry players: Mati Carbon was able to attract multiple buyers through 2025 and has signed significant purchase agreements for selling its ERW CDR credits. This revenue stream provides a significant boost to the continued scale up efforts of Mati.
Carbon Removal for Events: In a first of its kind approach, we have finalized an agreement to provide CDR for concerts and football matches, ensuring these events achieve Net Zero emissions. This initiative sets a precedent for integrating CDR into large-scale events globally. This new market segment also demonstrates the versatility of our solutions. By making cultural and sporting events more sustainable, we aim to bring carbon removal into public consciousness and discourse, encouraging even more widespread adoption.
Fundraising Milestones
This year, Mati Carbon successfully secured significant funding in grants and crowdfunding. This includes funding to support Mati scale-up in India, trials for Africa, and money raised through a crowdfunding campaign with Wren. These funds have been instrumental in driving our mission forward, supporting expansion efforts in Africa, and scaling our operations in India.
This support represents more than funding; this also highlights the trust and belief these organisations have placed in our vision. Each contribution has allowed us to expand our research capabilities, broaden our reach, create agroecological specific Monitoring, Reporting and Validation (MRV) stack, and accelerate efforts toward achieving a lasting impact in climate mitigation efforts and smallholder farmer climate resilience. Our ability to secure support from such renowned organizations reflects the potential of our Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) technology as a cornerstone of not just global carbon removal efforts, but also a significant driver for co-benefits for smallholders across the Global South to make them more resilient to climate changes.
Research and MRV Initiatives:
Research in collaboration with IGKV: The Department of Soil Sciences at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV) conducted research on Mati’s rock dust deployments. The findings, set to be published in an academic journal, show productivity gains of 8.9% to 35% in rice crops across various soil types and seasons. These results highlight the dual benefits of carbon removal and agricultural productivity enhancement. This research not only validates the efficacy of our technology but also underscores its potential to transform agriculture in developing regions. The combination of enhanced crop productivity and carbon sequestration represents a powerful tool in combating climate change while ensuring food security.
Commitment to Open Data: Additionally, towards our aim to ensuring ERW reaches its full potential across the Global South, Mati Carbon has joined Cascade Climate’s initiative to open-source critical research data. Additional datasets will be made available to researchers through a proposal-based request system, advancing the ERW field collectively. Our commitment to open data fosters collaboration and accelerates innovation in the carbon removal industry. By sharing our findings, we aim to catalyse collective progress, ensuring that scientific advancements benefit everyone.
Recognition and Awards
2024 was a significant year for us. We are proud to share that we got recognised globally for our efforts in scaling ERW across the Global South.
XPrize Carbon Removal Challenge Top 20 Finalists: Mati Carbon was selected as one of 20 finalists from more than 1300 applicants to work towards XPRIZE Carbon Removal’s grand prize of $50 million to be awarded in 2025. Mati Carbon was selected because of our demonstrated operational and scientific excellence along with providing significant benefits to smallholder farmers
Xprize Team and Auditors visit to Mati’s operating sites
US DOE Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize Phase 1 Semi-finalists: Mati Carbon was selected by United States Department of Energy as the semi-finalists for CDR purchase Pilot prize (Phase 1). This prize allows companies to compete for the opportunity to deliver carbon dioxide removal credits directly to DOE. Mati Carbon received $50,000 to support efforts to scale our technology with funding coming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Bezos Earth Fund Recognition: Mati was among 13 winners in Phase II of the Bezos Earth Fund’s $1M Greenhouse Gas Removal Ideation Prize. This grant will support the development of MRV systems tailored to local agroecological zones in Tanzania.
Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund: Mati Carbon was selected by Milkywire as one of thirteen carbon dioxide removal suppliers chosen from over 220 proposals. Our focus is on building permanent carbon removal using highly robust MRV systems while building climate resilience in smallholder farmers. The partnership with Milkywire is set to bring new opportunities and expand the reach of our innovative CDR solutions.
Fellowship for Our Founder: Our founder also got selected for the prestigious Henry fellow program by Mulago Foundation for Mati’s promising efforts to enable climate resilience amongst smallholder farmers while doing carbon removal.
Looking Ahead
Mati Carbon’s achievements in 2024 are a testament to the work we have done to bring the benefits of ERW permanent carbon removal to the smallholder farmer community. As we step into 2025, we are ready to scale our operations, deepen our partnerships, and continue driving meaningful change for the planet and its people.
Stay tuned for updates as we push the boundaries of carbon removal and climate resilience!