Varaha, an India-based local weather tech startup, has raised $20 million in recent funding because it seems to be to scale carbon elimination 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 current buyers together with RTP International and Omnivore. Based in 2022, Varaha has raised about $33 million in fairness to this point, alongside $35 million in mission financing and $500,000 in grants, because it builds carbon elimination initiatives throughout Asia and Africa.
India has emerged as an more and more vital base for carbon elimination 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 corporations going through rising power use from knowledge facilities and AI workloads. Varaha is positioning itself to capitalize on these benefits, arguing that its execution-focused mannequin permits it to ship carbon elimination 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, mentioned co-founder and chief government Madhur Jain in an interview, arguing that prime working prices might turn into a constraint for carbon elimination builders in wealthier markets as costs come underneath strain.
“If carbon credit score is a value to the companies which might be shopping for these carbon credit … it’s a value on their stability 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 laborious for these corporations to outlive.”
Varaha develops carbon elimination initiatives throughout 4 major 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 elimination credit by way of worldwide registries, together with Puro.earth, Isometric, Verra, Gold Commonplace, and Switzerland-based Carbon Requirements Worldwide, positioning itself as a provider to international firms looking for sturdy and independently validated emissions reductions.
So far, Varaha has eliminated greater than 2 million tons of carbon dioxide throughout 14 energetic initiatives, producing round 150,000 carbon elimination credit, Jain mentioned. He added that the startup was the primary in India to concern carbon credit from biochar initiatives and the primary in Asia to concern credit from enhanced rock weathering by way of a world registry.
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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 ₹1 billion (round $11.06 million) this yr, whereas remaining worthwhile after tax.
The startup has signed long-term offtake agreements with international patrons together with Google and Microsoft, in addition to corporates resembling Lufthansa, Swiss Re, and Capgemini.
Varaha at present 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 mentioned. The newest funding will likely be used to develop into further markets in South and Southeast Asia, together with Vietnam and Indonesia, whereas deepening its presence in current geographies.
The startup can 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 elimination 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 elimination by way of partnerships moderately than proudly owning all belongings itself.
“The issue is so large that tech, and so forth., will turn into open supply over a time period,” Jain mentioned. “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 knowledge roles, with greater than 80% of its workforce primarily based in India. Whereas the startup doesn’t preserve 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 imagine Varaha is uniquely positioned to construct a world carbon-removal platform from India, combining integrity, scale, and influence,” mentioned Sandeep Singhal, co-founder and managing associate, WestBridge Capital. “This funding displays our conviction within the group and their potential to form the subsequent part of local weather infrastructure worldwide.”
