Varaha, an Indian climate technology startup, has raised $20 million in new funding as it seeks to expand carbon removal projects in the Global South and become a lower-cost supplier of proven emissions reductions.
The investment represents the first part of a planned $45 million Series B round led by WestBridge Capital, the climate technology venture firm’s first investment, with participation from existing investors including RTP Global and Omnivore. Founded in 2022, Varaha has raised about $33 million in equity to date, along with $35 million in project funding and $500,000 in grants, as it builds carbon removal projects across Asia and Africa.
India has emerged as an increasingly important base for carbon removal projects, offering lower technical operating costs, extensive agricultural supply chains and a wealth of talent as corporate demand for proven waste removal grows, including from companies facing increasing data center energy consumption and AI workloads. Varaha seeks to capitalize on these advantages, saying its execution-focused model allows it to deliver carbon removal at lower costs while meeting the same international verification standards as more expensive competitors in Europe and North America.
Varaha’s advantage lies less in proprietary technology and more in execution, co-founder and CEO Madhur Jain said in an interview, noting that high operating costs could become a constraint for carbon removal developers in wealthier markets as prices come under pressure.
“If carbon credits are a cost to the businesses that buy those carbon credits … it’s a cost on their balance sheet. It’s not a CSR item,” Jain told TechCrunch. “And so if the costs for a certain geographic area are going to be that high, on the order of 1.5x to 3x loan production, it’s going to be extremely difficult for these companies to survive.”
Varaha develops carbon removal projects across four main pathways: regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, biochar and enhanced rock weathering, working mainly with smallholder farmers and industrial partners in emerging markets. The startup generates and sells verified carbon credits through international registries including Puro.earth, Isometric, Verra, Gold Standard and Switzerland-based Carbon Standards International, positioning itself as a supplier to global corporations seeking sustainable and independently verified emissions reductions.
To date, Varaha has removed more than 2 million tons of carbon dioxide across 14 active projects, generating about 150,000 carbon removal credits, Jain said. He added that the startup was the first in India to issue carbon credits from biochar projects and the first in Asia to issue credits from improved rock weathering through an international registry.
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Varaha reported ₹430 million (about US$4.76 million) in loan origination revenue last financial year and expects revenue to grow to nearly ₹1 billion (around US$11.06 million) this year, while remaining profitable after tax.
The startup has signed long-term subscription deals with global buyers including Google and Microsoft, as well as businesses such as Lufthansa, Swiss Re and Capgemini.
Varaha currently operates in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Ivory Coast, working with about 170,000 to 175,000 farmers on roughly 1.7 million acres, Jain said. The latest funding will be used to expand into additional markets in South and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and Indonesia, while deepening its presence in existing geographies.
The startup is also rolling out an industry partner program that allows industrial operators with access to sustainable biomass and gasification capacity to generate verified credits for biochar-based carbon removal using Varaha’s measurement, reporting and verification systems. The program already works with partners in West Africa and India, including agricultural businesses and a steelmaker, as Varaha seeks to scale carbon removal through partnerships rather than owning all the assets itself.
“The problem is so big that the technology, etc., will become open source over time,” Jain said. “So the most important thing is the execution.
Varaha employs about 225 to 230 people, with roughly 55 across technology, science, product and data roles, with more than 80% of its workforce based in India. While the startup has no overseas offices, it has employees in markets including Nepal, Germany, the US and Australia, reflecting its growing international customer base.
“We believe Varaha is uniquely positioned to build a global decarbonization platform from India that combines integrity, scale and impact,” said Sandeep Singhal, co-founder and managing partner of WestBridge Capital. “This investment reflects our belief in the team and their potential to shape the next phase of climate infrastructure around the world.”