Biochar Industrial Group has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding to turn agricultural waste from African food processors into carbon-removal credits. Breega led the round, with participation from Catalyst Fund, while the Mulago Foundation provided non-dilutive funding.
Founded in 2026 by Releaf Earth executives Ikenna Nzewi, Uzoma Ayogu and Isaiah Udotong, BIG installs and operates pyrolysis equipment at food-processing plants. The machines heat agricultural waste such as nut shells, husks and cobs in low-oxygen conditions, converting it into biochar rather than allowing the material to decompose or burn.
BIG calls the model Biochar-as-a-Service. Agricultural processors provide waste while BIG finances and operates the equipment, manages carbon measurement and verification and sells the resulting credits. The physical biochar can also be applied to farmland as a soil input. The company is targeting processors that generate at least 2,500 tonnes of suitable waste a year.
The funding will be used to deploy equipment and hire staff across engineering, operations, logistics and carbon verification. BIG also plans to build digital monitoring systems that track how much biomass is processed and how much carbon is stored. The company says it has visited sites across West Africa and received interest from other parts of the continent.
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BIG’s founders previously built agricultural processing infrastructure at Releaf Earth, where biochar production has already generated verified carbon-removal credits sold to international buyers. BIG plans to take that operating model to food processors across Africa, selecting locations based on available biomass rather than focusing on specific countries.
Key Takeaways
BIG is trying to turn 2 problems into one business: factories need a way to manage agricultural waste, while companies seeking to meet climate targets need carbon removal that can be measured and verified. Biochar connects the 2 because waste that might otherwise decompose or burn can be converted into a material that stores carbon for long periods.
BIG’s model also removes much of the upfront cost for food processors because the startup finances and operates the equipment itself, then shares value generated from biochar and carbon credits. The founders enter the market with some operating history from Releaf Earth, which earlier delivered verified carbon-removal credits from Nigerian biochar production to Salesforce through Milkywire. That provides a proof point for a market where the quality of carbon credits and the ability to measure removal remain key concerns.
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The $1.5 million round is small for industrial infrastructure, so BIG will need to show that individual sites can generate enough carbon-credit and biochar revenue to finance expansion. If the economics work, the company could replicate equipment across processors instead of building central plants, creating a network of carbon-removal sites close to where agricultural waste is produced.