As the Carbon XPRIZE brings global attention to serious carbon removal solutions, one startup stands out for combining deep science with climate justice: Mati Carbon. Competing in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, Mati Carbon is proving that carbon removal doesn’t have to be abstract, industrial, or disconnected from people’s lives—it can start on small farms in some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
What Is Mati Carbon?
Mati Carbon is an affiliate entity of the Swaniti Initiative. The organization focuses on enhanced rock weathering (ERW), a carbon removal approach that uses crushed silicate rocks—such as basalt—to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere while improving soil health.
Mati Carbon’s work is centered on smallholder and subsistence farmers in the Global South, particularly in countries like India, Zambia, and Tanzania. These farmers often work plots as small as half an acre, rely entirely on rainfall, and have limited access to fertilizers or irrigation. Mati’s solution is designed specifically for this reality.
How Enhanced Rock Weathering Works
Mati Carbon distributes finely ground silicate rock powders to farmers at no cost. When spread on fields, these minerals slowly break down through natural chemical reactions. During this process, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is drawn down and locked away in stable forms—sometimes for tens of thousands of years.
At the same time, the rocks release essential micronutrients into the soil. This can:
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Improve soil health
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Increase crop yields
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Reduce pest pressure
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Help farms become more resilient to drought
For farmers operating on the margins, even small improvements in yield can be life-changing.
Carbon Removal With Real Benefits
What makes Mati Carbon different from many carbon removal projects is that carbon storage is not the only goal. Their model intentionally links climate action with food security and rural economic development.
Rather than selling a product to farmers, Mati funds its operations through carbon removal economics. Carbon buyers—often large corporations—pay for verified carbon removal, and that funding supports free deployment of silicate amendments to farmers. The result is a direct transfer of value from high-emitting economies to climate-vulnerable communities.
Science, Measurement, and Trust
One of the biggest challenges in carbon removal is proving that it actually works. Mati Carbon has taken this challenge head-on by investing heavily in Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV).
Mati collaborates with the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture to ensure independent scientific oversight. This partnership supports advanced sampling, laboratory analysis, and modeling to quantify how much CO₂ is removed and stored.
In addition, Mati works with verification partners Isometric and Puro to ensure best-in-class verification standards. Their MRV stack includes solid and liquid sampling techniques and some of the most sophisticated ERW models currently in use.
Importantly, Mati has proven that these methods can work not just in labs, but in real fields across multiple agroecological zones.
Technology That Scales Through People
Mati Carbon also operates a custom software platform that coordinates ERW deployments across remote regions. This system helps manage farmer participation, field data collection, sampling schedules, and verification workflows—making it possible to scale ERW even in areas with limited infrastructure.
This human-centered scaling model is essential for reaching millions of farmers while maintaining scientific rigor.
A Voice for the Global South
Mati Carbon has also emerged as a strong advocate in international climate policy discussions. The organization urges global bodies, including the UN, to adopt method-neutral definitions of carbon removal and move away from rigid labels like “nature-based” versus “engineered.”
According to Mati, these labels often fail to reflect reality on the ground—especially for hybrid approaches like enhanced rock weathering that deliver both ecological and economic benefits.
Leadership Behind the Vision
Mati Carbon Removals is led by Shantanu Agarwal, Founder of Mati Carbon Removals. Under his leadership, the organization has combined scientific discipline, nonprofit values, and startup execution to build a model that aligns climate mitigation with sustainable development goals.
Why Mati Carbon Matters in the XPRIZE
In a competition focused on gigaton-scale carbon removal, Mati Carbon demonstrates that scale doesn’t have to mean centralization. By working with smallholder farmers, deploying proven geochemistry, and prioritizing robust verification, Mati offers a blueprint for climate action that is durable, ethical, and inclusive.
As the Carbon XPRIZE progresses, Mati Carbon stands as a powerful example of how carbon removal can restore soils, support livelihoods, and remove carbon—at the same time.
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