Cleantech startup Graphyte announced that it has raised $30 million in a Series A funding round, with proceeds aimed at accelerating the company’s carbon dioxide removal technology and scaling up its carbon removal operations.

Founded in 2023, Graphyte provides durable and low-cost carbon removal technology utilizing natural processes such as photosynthesis. The company’s Carbon Casting approach to carbon removal dries and compresses biomass – such as residues from timber and farming operations – into dense carbon blocks, protected by an environmentally-safe, impermeable polymer barrier and stores them in monitored underground sites. According to the company, the process preserves nearly all the carbon captured in the biomass and consumes very little energy, creating a low cost and highly scalable carbon removal approach.

Graphyte has commenced operations of a project in Arkansas which is expected to reach a capacity of 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removed per year (tCO2/year) in early 2025.  The company said that the new capital will enable the launch of four carbon removal facilities in 2025 and 2026 to meet the company’s goal of removing more than 5 million tons of CO2 each year by 2030.

Barclay Rogers, CEO of Graphyte, said:

“Graphyte aims to be the largest durable carbon dioxide removal supplier in the world. We are thrilled to work with an amazing set of leading climate investors to start bringing durable carbon removals to scale using our proprietary Carbon Casting process.”

The Series A financing round was co-led by Prelude Ventures and Carbon Direct Capital, with significant participation from existing investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) and Overture.

Matt Eggers, Managing Director at Prelude Ventures, said:

“Carbon removal must scale as quickly as possible to make a climate impact and buyers are ready for solutions with high permanence and strong MRV. Graphyte’s solution is among the most promising for rapidly deploying durable carbon removal at massive scale.”

Mayank Kapoor, Principal at Carbon Direct Capital, added:

“Getting to 50,000 tonnes of annualized removal capacity so quickly speaks to both the scalability and cost competitiveness of Graphyte’s carbon removal technology.”