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

At the edge of a bustling Lagos food‑processing plant, a stack of peanut shells sits beside a gleaming metal drum. A worker pauses, looks at the dusty pile, and whispers, “We’re wasting this.” That moment, ordinary yet charged, is the heartbeat of Biochar Industrial Group (BIG). The company has just closed a $1.5 million pre‑seed round, pledging to turn such waste into carbon‑removal credits that could reshape Africa’s agricultural landscape.

BIG’s foundersIkenna Nzewi, Uzoma Ayogu, and Isaiah Udotongwere once engineers at Releaf Earth, a Y Combinator‑backed agro‑processing firm. Their experience with industrial agricultural infrastructure sparked a vision: instead of letting nut shells, husks, and cobs decompose and emit CO₂, why not convert them into biochar? The process, known as pyrolysis, heats waste in low‑oxygen conditions, producing a charcoal‑like material that locks carbon for centuries. When applied to soil, biochar can improve fertility and water retention, offering a double win for farms and the planet.

The $1.5 million round was led by BREEGA, an early‑stage venture capital firm, with the Catalyst Fund and the Mulago Foundation also on board. The Mulago Foundation’s contribution came as non‑dilutive funding, meaning it does not take equity in return. BIG will use the capital to buy and install pyrolysis units at food‑processing facilities, hire engineers and logistics staff, and build systems for monitoring and verifying the carbon removed. By financing the equipment itself, BIG removes the upfront cost burden from factories, allowing them to receive a share of the value generated from the biochar and the associated carbon credits.

BIG’s “Biochar‑as‑a‑Service” (BaaS) model is straightforward: a food factory supplies its waste; BIG finances, installs, and operates the pyrolysis equipment on‑site; the factory receives a portion of the revenue from the biochar product and the carbon credits. This partnership structure aligns incentivesfactories no longer view waste as a liability but as a revenue stream, while BIG scales its impact without needing to secure large capital outlays from individual processors.

Africa churns out more than 3 billion tonnes of agricultural waste annually, from nut shells to sawdust. Most of it sits idle, decomposing and releasing CO₂. Over 80 % of agricultural lands in Africa are degraded, limiting productivity and exacerbating food insecurity. By converting waste into biochar, BIG tackles both carbon emissions and soil health simultaneously. The company’s ambition is to turn localized waste liabilities into a transformative global solution, leveraging Africa’s natural advantages for scalable, cost‑effective biomass‑based carbon removal.

The Middle East and Africa’s biochar market is projected to exceed $450 million by 2032, driven by growing demand for durable carbon‑removal credits. BIG’s entry into this market aligns with a broader shift toward circular economies in the region, where waste streams are increasingly seen as resources. The company’s founders, having spent almost a decade building industrial agricultural infrastructure, are well positioned to navigate both the technical and regulatory landscapes that will shape the industry’s growth.

Watching the first pyrolysis unit ignite in Lagos, I felt a sense of quiet optimism. The glow of the furnace was not just heat; it was a promise that the waste that once threatened to choke the air could instead feed the soil and the planet. BIG’s approach, grounded in partnership and practical engineering, reminds me that solutions to climate challenges need not be abstractthey can be tangible, local, and profitable.

With the new funding, BIG will soon roll out its first pilot units, hire a small but skilled team, and begin quantifying the carbon removed through its process. If successful, the model could ripple across Africa’s food‑processing hubs, turning the continent’s most significant waste stream into a source of clean energy, improved soil, and carbon credits that investors and governments alike can trust. The next few months will be crucial: the company must prove that its technology delivers measurable environmental benefits while remaining economically viable for its partners. If it does, BIG could become a beacon for how climate tech and agriculture can co‑evolve, turning waste into wealth and carbon into hope.