Varaha, an India-based local weather tech startup, has raised $20 million in recent funding because it seems to be to scale carbon removing initiatives from the International South and place itself as a lower-cost provider for verified emissions reductions.
The funding marks the primary portion of a deliberate $45 million Collection B spherical led by WestBridge Capital, the enterprise agency’s first funding in local weather tech, with participation from present traders together with RTP International and Omnivore. Based in 2022, Varaha has raised about $33 million in fairness to this point, alongside $35 million in undertaking financing and $500,000 in grants, because it builds carbon removing initiatives throughout Asia and Africa.
India has emerged as an more and more vital base for carbon removing initiatives, providing decrease working prices, deep agricultural provide chains, and a big pool of technical expertise as company demand for verified removals rises, together with from firms dealing with rising power use from information facilities and AI workloads. Varaha is positioning itself to capitalize on these benefits, arguing that its execution-focused mannequin permits it to ship carbon removing at decrease price whereas assembly the identical worldwide verification requirements as higher-priced rivals in Europe and North America.
Varaha’s benefit lies much less in proprietary expertise and extra in execution, stated co-founder and chief government Madhur Jain in an interview, arguing that prime working prices may grow to be a constraint for carbon removing builders in wealthier markets as costs come beneath strain.
“If carbon credit score is a value to the companies which are shopping for these carbon credit … it’s a value on their steadiness sheet. It’s not a CSR merchandise,” Jain informed TechCrunch. “And therefore, if the price of a sure geography goes to be so excessive by an order of magnitude of like, 1.5x to 3x credit score manufacturing, it’ll be extraordinarily arduous for these firms to outlive.”
Varaha develops carbon removing initiatives throughout 4 fundamental pathways: regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, biochar, and enhanced rock weathering, working largely with smallholder farmers and industrial companions in rising markets. The startup generates and sells verified carbon removing credit by worldwide registries, together with Puro.earth, Isometric, Verra, Gold Normal, and Switzerland-based Carbon Requirements Worldwide, positioning itself as a provider to world firms searching for sturdy and independently validated emissions reductions.
Up to now, Varaha has eliminated greater than 2 million tons of carbon dioxide throughout 14 energetic initiatives, producing round 150,000 carbon removing credit, Jain stated. He added that the startup was the primary in India to challenge carbon credit from biochar initiatives and the primary in Asia to challenge credit from enhanced rock weathering by a world registry.
Techcrunch occasion
Boston, MA
|
June 23, 2026
Varaha reported income of ₹430 million (about $4.76 million) final monetary yr from delivered credit and expects income to rise to just about ₹2 billion (round $22.15 million) this yr, whereas remaining worthwhile after tax.
The startup has signed long-term offtake agreements with world patrons together with Google and Microsoft, in addition to corporates equivalent to Lufthansa, Swiss Re, and Capgemini.
Varaha presently operates throughout India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Ivory Coast, working with about 170,000 to 175,000 farmers over roughly 1.7 million acres, Jain stated. The most recent funding will likely be used to increase into further markets in South and Southeast Asia, together with Vietnam and Indonesia, whereas deepening its presence in present geographies.
The startup can also be rolling out an Industrial Companions Program, which permits industrial operators with entry to sustainable biomass and gasification capability to generate verified biochar-based carbon removing credit utilizing Varaha’s measurement, reporting, and verification programs. This system is already operational with companions in West Africa and India, together with agribusinesses and a metal producer, as Varaha seems to be to scale carbon removing by partnerships quite than proudly owning all belongings itself.
“The issue is so massive that tech, and so forth., will grow to be open supply over a time frame,” Jain stated. “So what issues essentially the most is the execution.”
Varaha employs about 225 to 230 individuals, together with roughly 55 throughout expertise, science, product and information roles, with greater than 80% of its workforce primarily based in India. Whereas the startup doesn’t keep places of work abroad, it has employees in markets together with Nepal, Germany, the U.S., and Australia, reflecting its rising worldwide buyer base.
“We consider Varaha is uniquely positioned to construct a worldwide carbon-removal platform from India, combining integrity, scale, and influence,” stated Sandeep Singhal, co-founder and managing companion, WestBridge Capital. “This funding displays our conviction within the crew and their potential to form the following part of local weather infrastructure worldwide.”
