Biochar Industrial Group raises $1.5m to turn Africa’s agricultural waste into carbon credits

Biochar Industrial Group (BIG), a climate-tech startup founded by former Releaf executives, has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding to turn agricultural waste from African food factories into carbon-removal credits. The company will use the funding to deploy pyrolysis equipment at food-processing facilities, where it will convert waste such as nut shells, husks, and cobs into biochar—a charcoal-like material that can store the carbon contained in the original biomass waste.