Carbon Removal Startup Varaha Raises $20M to Scale Global South Projects
India-based climate tech startup Varaha has secured $20 million in Series B funding to dramatically expand carbon removal operations across the Global South. The fresh capital, led by WestBridge Capital, positions the four-year-old company to deliver verified CO2 removal credits at significantly lower costs than Western competitors—just as corporate demand surges from energy-intensive industries like AI and cloud computing. Varaha now operates 14 active projects removing over 2 million tons of carbon dioxide through methods including regenerative agriculture, biochar, and enhanced rock weathering.
Credit: Varaha
Why the Global South Is Becoming Carbon Removal's New Frontier
For years, carbon removal development concentrated in North America and Europe, where high labor costs and complex land regulations drove credit prices upward. But a strategic shift is underway. Countries across Asia and Africa offer compelling advantages: vast agricultural landscapes, established farming communities, lower operational overhead, and growing technical talent pools. These factors enable startups like Varaha to execute large-scale removal projects at 30–60% lower costs while still meeting rigorous international verification standards.
Corporate buyers are taking notice. As companies face mounting pressure to address Scope 3 emissions—and as AI data centers dramatically increase energy consumption—affordable, durable carbon removal has shifted from a sustainability nice-to-have to a financial necessity. Varaha co-founder and CEO Madhur Jain puts it bluntly: "If carbon credit is a cost to the businesses buying these credits… it's not a CSR item. It's a cost on their balance sheet." In today's market, geography-driven cost advantages aren't just convenient—they're existential for project developers.
Execution Over Proprietary Tech: Varaha's Unconventional Edge
Unlike many climate tech startups racing to patent novel carbon capture machines or direct air capture facilities, Varaha built its model on something less glamorous but equally vital: flawless execution. The company doesn't rely on breakthrough hardware. Instead, it excels at navigating complex supply chains, training smallholder farmers in carbon-smart practices, managing soil amendment logistics, and shepherding projects through stringent third-party verification.
This boots-on-the-ground approach matters immensely in emerging markets where land tenure systems differ, seasonal farming cycles dictate timelines, and community trust determines project longevity. Varaha's team—blending agronomists, carbon scientists, and local field operators—has developed repeatable playbooks for deploying four distinct removal pathways across diverse geographies. The result? Verified credits that meet Puro.earth, Verra, and Gold Standard requirements without the premium price tags associated with Western projects.
Four Pathways, One Mission: How Varaha Removes Carbon at Scale
Varaha's portfolio spans four scientifically validated carbon removal methods, each suited to different regional conditions and farmer capabilities:
Regenerative agriculture transforms conventional farms by introducing cover cropping, reduced tillage, and precision compost application. These practices rebuild soil organic carbon while improving water retention and crop resilience—a win for farmers and the climate.
Agroforestry integrates trees into working landscapes, sequestering carbon in both biomass and soil. Varaha partners with farmers to plant native species that provide shade, prevent erosion, and generate supplemental income through fruit or timber harvests years later.
Biochar production converts agricultural waste into a stable, charcoal-like substance through controlled pyrolysis. When incorporated into soil, biochar locks away carbon for centuries while enhancing fertility. Varaha pioneered India's first internationally verified biochar credits—a milestone demonstrating emerging markets' innovation capacity.
Enhanced rock weathering spreads finely ground silicate rocks on farmland, accelerating a natural geological process that pulls CO2 from the atmosphere. Varaha became Asia's first issuer of verified credits through this method, proving scalability even in smallholder-dominated regions.
Critically, Varaha works primarily with smallholder farmers—often overlooked by larger carbon developers—who collectively steward millions of hectares across India, Kenya, Indonesia, and beyond. By designing projects around their existing workflows and providing upfront financing for inputs, Varaha ensures adoption without disrupting livelihoods.
The $20M Catalyst: What Comes Next for Varaha
This initial $20 million tranche represents the first close of a planned $45 million Series B round. WestBridge Capital's participation marks the Indian venture firm's inaugural climate tech investment—a signal that domestic investors increasingly recognize carbon removal's commercial viability beyond pure philanthropy.
Varaha will deploy funds across three priorities. First, accelerating project development to reach 50+ active sites by 2027. Second, expanding its technical assistance teams to onboard thousands more farmers with culturally attuned training programs. Third, investing in monitoring technology—including satellite imagery and soil sensors—to streamline verification without compromising rigor.
The timing couldn't be sharper. As carbon credit markets mature, buyers increasingly distinguish between avoidance (preventing future emissions) and removal (extracting legacy CO2). Removal credits command premium pricing, especially those verified as durable for 100+ years. Varaha's portfolio—particularly its biochar and rock weathering projects—delivers precisely this durability profile at accessible price points.
Corporate Demand Meets Climate Justice
Varaha's rise reflects a broader recalibration in climate finance. For too long, carbon markets centered wealthier nations as both project hosts and credit buyers, sidelining communities in the Global South despite their stewardship of critical ecosystems. Varaha flips this script: it sources removal where it's most cost-effective and ecologically appropriate, then channels revenue directly to farmers who implement practices.
This model advances climate justice without sacrificing commercial discipline. Farmers receive payments for verified carbon outcomes—creating new income streams without requiring land sales or displacement. Meanwhile, corporations gain access to high-integrity removal that genuinely addresses their footprint. It's a rare alignment of ethics and economics.
The pressure on tech giants to neutralize AI's carbon hunger makes this moment pivotal. Training a single large language model can emit hundreds of tons of CO2; running inference across millions of users multiplies that impact daily. These companies need removal—not offsets—to claim genuine climate responsibility. Varaha's low-cost, high-volume approach offers a viable path forward.
Scaling Without Compromising Integrity
Growth brings challenges. As Varaha expands across continents, maintaining verification rigor becomes harder. One poorly monitored project could undermine trust in its entire portfolio. The company acknowledges this, emphasizing its commitment to third-party auditors and transparent public reporting of removal metrics.
Another hurdle: ensuring farmer benefits remain central as corporate contracts grow larger. Varaha's leadership insists revenue-sharing models will stay non-negotiable—a stance that could differentiate it as competitors prioritize speed over equity.
Yet the opportunity outweighs the obstacles. With over 500 million smallholder farmers across Asia and Africa, the addressable market for inclusive carbon removal is enormous. Varaha isn't just building a company; it's proving that climate solutions can be both globally scalable and locally empowering.
As Jain notes, the math is inescapable: "If the cost of a certain geography is going to be so high by an order of magnitude… it is going to be extremely hard for those companies to survive." Varaha's bet is that the future of carbon removal won't be won in Silicon Valley labs alone—but in rice paddies, mango groves, and village cooperatives across the Global South. With $20 million newly in hand, that future is arriving faster than many expected.
