May 8 – Mati Carbon has been selected as one of 20 finalists to work towards XPRIZE Carbon Removal’s grand prize of $50 million to be awarded in 2025. Mati Carbon’s Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) strategy is focused on the Global South and removes carbon at scale with 10,000 years of permanence. In addition to carbon removal, Mati Carbon’s ERW boosts the climate resilience of smallholder farmers in climate-vulnerable regions such as India, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.
XPRIZE Carbon Removal, aims to tackle the biggest threat facing humanity – fighting climate change and rebalancing Earth’s carbon cycle. This four-year, $100 million global competition invites innovators and teams from anywhere on the planet to create and demonstrate solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans and sequester it durably and sustainably.
The top 20 finalists were evaluated and selected over a year from more than 1300 participants by the XPRIZE Carbon Removal team and a group of qualified judges to move forward into the final stage of the competition. Each team was evaluated across three key areas: operations, sustainability, and cost.
Mati, along with the other XPRIZE finalists, presents a viable pathway to reaching megatonne-scale carbon removal by 2030 with the goal of reaching gigatonne scales of removal. Mati also demonstrates operational maturity, having deployed over 40,000 tonnes of basalt in agricultural fields to date, while launching programs to track the environmental and societal impacts of ERW operations in the Global South.
“We are thrilled to be selected as a top 20 finalist for XPRIZE Carbon Removal,” said Mati Carbon CEO Shantanu Agrawal. “With over 5000 registered farmer partners we are on track to deliver >$ 1 million in increased farmer incomes in 2024. We are dedicated to pushing forward climate justice by leveraging ERW technology for climate adaptation for millions of farmers.”
Mati Carbon leverages the natural process of ERW to permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the application of silicate rocks on agricultural lands. This involves the engineered dissolution of powderized silicate rocks in agricultural fields. As the rock powder dissolves, it releases essential nutrients resulting in improved soil quality which passes benefits of higher crop yields, income and food security to farmers in climate-vulnerable regions such as India, Sub Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. This approach not only aids in permanent carbon sequestration (10,000+ year permanence) but also improves soil health and crop productivity, thereby supporting the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in developing countries.
Recently, Mati Carbon completed the first ever delivery of Engineered Carbon Removal tonnes in the Global South. Mati delivered 50 tons of CDR to Frontier buyers in March 2024, from deployments initiated in 2022. Additionally, Mati has just been selected as a CDR supplier by Klarna, Spotify, and others – as a part of the Milywire Climate Transformation Fund.
As carbon removal markets grow, maintaining trust from the public and stakeholders is of the highest importance. To ensure scientific rigor and public trust, Mati Carbon has diligently worked with scientific leaders to develop robust Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) protocols. Mati’s MRV technology stack, was developed in collaboration with Yale University’s Center for Natural Carbon Capture, University of Sheffield’s Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation, and other research partners at leading academic and private institutions. Additionally, Mati’s Chief Science Officer worked closely with collaborating scientists to publish this recent study validating the use of Mati’s MRV methods. Mati Carbon’s emphasis on publishing peer reviewed research, and its scientific rigor are at the core of its commitment to developing reliable and scalable solutions for carbon removal while building public trust.
About XPRIZE: XPRIZE is an established global leader in designing, launching, and executing large scale competitions to solve humanity’s greatest challenges. Our unique model democratizes innovation by incentivizing crowd-sourced, scientifically viable solutions to create a more equitable and abundant future for all. Donate, learn more or join a team at xprize.org. For questions and support with media inquiries, press releases and materials, and all other media -related questions,please contact the XPRIZE PR Team: