global winner
Houston startup wins funding through new Bezos Earth Fund initiative
A Houston-based climatech startup is one of the first 16 companies in the world to receive funding through a new partnership between The Bezos Earth Fund and The Earthshot Prize.
Mati Carbon will receive $100,000 through the Bezos Earth Fund’s Acceleration Initiative. The initiative will provide $4.8 million over three years to support climate and nature solutions startups. It's backed by The Bezos Earth Fund, which was founded through a $10 billion gift from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and aims to "transform the fight against climate change."
The Acceleration Initiative will choose 16 startups each year from The Earthshot Prize’s global pool of nominations that were not selected as finalists. The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William, awards £1 million to five energy startups each year over a decade.
"The Earthshot Prize selects 15 finalists each year, but our wider pool of nominations represents a global pipeline of innovators and investable solutions that benefit both people and planet. Collaborating with the Bezos Earth Fund to support additional high-potential solutions is at the heart of commitment to working with partners who share our vision," Jason Knauf, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, said in a news release. "By combining our strengths to support 48 carefully selected grantees from The Earthshot Prize’s pool of nominations, our partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund means we will continue to drive systemic change beyond our annual Prize cycle, delivering real-world impact at scale and speed.”
Mati Carbon was founded in 2022 by co-directors Shantanu Agarwal and Rwitwika Bhattacharya. It removes carbon through its Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) program and works with agricultural farms in Africa and India. Mati Carbon says the farmers it partners with are some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
"As one of the first 16 organizations selected, this support enables us to expand our operations, move faster and think bigger about the impact we can create," the company shared in a LinkedIn post.
The other grantees from around the world include:
- Air Protein Inc.
- Climatenza Solar
- Instituto Floresta Viva
- Forum Konservasi Leuser
- Fundación Rewilding Argentina
- Hyperion Robotics
- InPlanet
- Lasso
- Mandai Nature
- MERMAID
- Asociación Conservacionista Misión Tiburón
- Simple Planet
- Snowchange Cooperative
- tHEMEat Company
- UP Catalyst
Mati Carbon also won the $50 million grand prize in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, backed by Elon Musk’s charitable organization, The Musk Foundation, last year.