16-Year-Old Founder's Company CarbonZero.Eco Emerges from Stealth, Raising $3.5M in Seed Funding to Mainstream Biochar Use to Help Farmers Increase Crop Yields While Removing CO2 from the Atmosphere

Founded by 16-year old CEO Harper Moss and successful tech entrepreneur Gregory Ray as CTO, CarbonZero.Eco has already pre-sold $7M of biochar and inked a deal with California farmers to locate its first Biochar production site

LOS ALTOS, Calif., Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CarbonZero.Eco, a Silicon Valley-based venture-backed startup tackling regenerative agriculture and CO2 removal through Biochar, today emerged from stealth and announced a $3.5M seed round that includes investments from managers and executives at Google, Meta, Amazon and the CEOs of several late stage start-ups. The company also announced it has inked deals worth seven million dollars ($7M) with more than 300 almond farms in Colusa County and Yolo County, California to mitigate up to 1.5M tons of CO2 emissions from waste breakdown. The new capital will fuel the company's mission to help American farmers enhance soil quality, increase crop yields, and generate additional revenues while also removing CO2 from the atmosphere by revolutionizing Biochar production at scale.

"Harper's passion, persistence and drive led her to start an amazing company tackling regenerative farming and carbon emissions at a critical time for both, and I am so excited to see how far she takes it along with Greg and the impressive team they have put together," said angel investor Rich Miner, co-founder of Android and former founding partner at Google Ventures.

New Construction and Preliminary Assessment with Puro.earth

CarbonZero.eco's first Biochar production site–located in Colusa County, CA where almonds are processed–is slated to open in late April 2025. Puro.earth, the world's leading carbon crediting platform, has vetted the planned facility which has passed Puro.earth's preliminary assessment, registering CarbonZero.eco as a biochar CO2 Removal Certificate supplier. The company will begin generating certificates in summer 2025 for the CO2 removal.

"Harper pitched our ownership group and convinced us that she would build a business model that we would all benefit from," said Dan Pronsolino, General manager, Cortina Hulling and Shelling LLC. "We look forward to working with her and Greg to increase crop yields, improve soil health and create additional revenue for the more than 300 local growers we serve. We are excited to be the first location for CarbonZero.Eco and hope that others learn from what we are doing here."

Biochar Production at Scale Benefits Both Farmers and the Environment

Every year, at least 1,300 million tons of agricultural waste is produced, and the amount is likely to expand further in a world with a growing population to feed. The current approach to handling this waste through landfills and incineration has contributed to approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and also created various toxic pollutants. 

Biochar is a process that stabilizes carbon within the biomass, locking it away for thousands of years, effectively preventing its release during decomposition and contributing to carbon removal. This carbon removal generates valuable carbon removal certificates that are highly sought after in the market. Supported by over 6,000 studies, Biochar has also been proven to significantly enhance soil quality and crop yields for future generations. CarbonZero.eco has teamed up with California almond farmers to convert up to 1.5M tons of almond shells–which would normally decompose in 24 months and release their carbon as CO2–into Biochar.

Founding Story: Harper Moss and Gregory Ray Team Up to Fuel Biochar Production in the U.S. 

CarbonZero.Eco CEO Harper Moss and CTO Gregory Ray are on a mission to introduce Biochar to roughly 525M acres of farmland in the US, which could benefit from its regenerative properties, requiring over 2.6 billion tons annually. To achieve this goal, CarbonZero.Eco is addressing two main challenges: farmer enablement and the substantial Biochar shortage in the US. One of the key unlocks for the company was building their plant in a location where hundreds of farms already aggregated their biomass, so that the company's plant required no additional transportation so the carbon impact is extremely net-positive.

Harper was just 15 years old when she first conceived the vision for CarbonZero.Eco driven by her passion to make a positive impact on the planet in a way that would also benefit the farmers who feed our nation. Realizing the remarkable potential of biochar in revitalizing farmlands and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — a practice largely overlooked across the 8.5 million acres of California farmland – Harper embarked on a mission to introduce the transformative benefits of biochar to farmers. 

"Farmers are the beating heart of our country, yet haven't been a big enough part of the carbon conversation before. Regenerative farming and carbon sequestration go hand in hand thanks to Biochar, and I am humbled that hundreds of farms trust us enough to partner with us on this journey," said CEO Harper Moss. 

About CarbonZero

CarbonZero.eco, a Silicon Valley-based VC-backed startup, is tackling regenerative agriculture and climate change through Biochar, aiming to mainstream its use in farming and address the impending Biochar shortage. With kilns capable of producing 30,000 tons of Biochar per year, five times more than current technology, they are revolutionizing Biochar production at scale. CarbonZero.eco's process benefits farmlands and stabilizes carbon for up to a millennium. The company's first project in Colusa County, CA will mitigate 1.5 million tons of CO2 emissions from waste breakdown.

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SOURCE CarbonZero.ECO, Inc.