Biochar Industrial Group (BIG), founded by Ikenna Nzewi, Uzoma Ayogu, and Isaiah Udotong, has secured $1.5 million in pre-seed funding.
The Nigeria-based climate-tech startup runs a biochar-as-a-service model. They place modular pyrolysis equipment inside food processing factories to convert waste material into biochar.
In doing so, they transform biomass into stable carbon that is added to soil. This improves soil quality while also generating carbon-removal credits.
The funding round was led by BREEGA, with participation from Catalyst Fund. The Mulago Foundation provided non-dilutive funding.
When Food Processing Waste Becomes a Problem
The African food processing industry is estimated to produce about 1 billion tonnes of non-edible biomass annually. This consists of corn cobs, husks, nut shells, and plant stalks, among others. When these waste products decompose or are burnt, they release carbon dioxide and methane. Commercial farming is rapidly increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is a heat-trapping greenhouse gas that accelerates global warming.
The other problem is that Africa’s cultivated land is rapidly deteriorating. Overuse and synthetic fertilizers strip soil of 30-60 kgs of nutrients per hectare annually. In fact, the African Union Development Agency predicts that by 2050, half of Africa’s arable land could be unusable. With agricultural production expected to rise, neither of these problems is going away.
Nzewi, Ayogu, and Udotong previously worked at Releaf Earth, a Y Combinator-backed agricultural processing company, and witnessed the problem firsthand. At Releaf Earth, they operated four factories and built supply chains from small-scale farmers to processing plants, seeing an opportunity to revolutionize the industry. Together, they founded Biochar Industrial Group.
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Converting Biomass to Biochar
Instead of letting biomass decompose, BIG has developed a business model where they convert organic waste into stable biochar. They do this through a process called pyrolysis. The biomass is heated to over 600 degrees Celsius in a sealed vat without oxygen, and slowly transforms into a charcoal-like substance that traps the carbon dioxide for hundreds to thousands of years. As a result, it generates high-value carbon removal credits, which are in high demand from corporates facing strict net-zero goals.
“BIG is turning a real industrial waste problem into repeatable, audit-grade carbon credits, and doing it with a level of operational discipline that’s rare this early,” said Tosin Faniro-Dada, a partner at BREEGA.
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A Win-Win Situation: Carbon Credits and Soil Regeneration
With their Biochar-as-a-service model, everyone benefits. Instead of having a centralized pyrolysis plant, it installs the pyrolysis machine inside or alongside existing food-processing plants. BIG finances the pyrolysis machines and takes a share of the revenue from the carbon removal credits that they produce. The company offers to cover 100% or 50% of the costs. Subsequently, its food-processing partner receives 20% of the revenue or 50%, respectively. By placing the machine directly at the source of the organic waste, it reduces the costs of transportation and also creates local technical jobs for operators and engineers.
“Africa has natural advantages to lead the most scalable and cost-effective biomass-based carbon removal globally,” said Nzewi, BIG’s chief executive officer. “By forming true win-win partnerships with agricultural processors to produce biochar, we have the opportunity to turn localized waste liabilities into a transformative global solution.”
The actual physical biochar is routed directly into local agricultural supply chains and agribusinesses, specifically in regions across sub-Saharan Africa dealing with heavily degraded acidic soil. The heavy production costs are largely subsidized by selling premium carbon credits, meaning that BIG can sell the biochar to local farmers at highly competitive, low-cost rates.
Biochar has a porous structure. It acts like a sponge, holding water and nutrients in the soil while also fostering beneficial microbes. Controlled field trials by BIG have shown crop yield increases of up to 50% using their specialized biochar soil amendments. Not only is BIG helping mitigate the effects of climate change, but they are also improving the quality of degraded arable land.
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Expansion across Africa
BIG is using this capital to expand its factory partnerships and scale its biochar-as-a-service model across sub-Saharan Africa. Funding will also be used to deploy equipment and hire staff across engineering operations, logistics, and carbon verification. The company plans to build digital monitoring systems that track how much biomass is processed and how much carbon is stored, so that it can produce accurate data.
After nearly a decade of experience at Releaf, the trio built a business model that transforms unutilized waste into two valuable products. If they scale successfully, they will revolutionize Africa’s agricultural and food processing industries.
Main image: Biochar Industrial Group Founders, Left to right: Uzoma Ayogu, Isaiah Udotong, and Ikenna Nzewi. Courtesy: BIG.
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