Environmental solutions startup Applied Carbon has raised $21.5 million in a Series A funding round to deploy bioengineering in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Created by heating biomass in the absence of oxygen, biochar sequesters carbon and increases soil fertility when buried. Seen in 2020, Applied Carbon has developed a high-tech trailer that converts crop residues into biochar using advanced pyrolysis. This device quenches the biochar with water and replenishes it with nutrients and microbes if necessary.
Biochar is spread over fields, eliminating the need for transportation and dedicated facilities, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and costs. The funding round was led by TO VC and included Congruent Ventures, Grantham Foundation, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund and others. Formerly known as Climate Robotics, Applied Carbon was renamed in June.