Reversing Climate Change 353: Winning the Carbon Removal XPRIZE: Mati’s Enhanced Weathering in the Global South—w/ Shantanu Agarwal, CEO & Founder of Mati Carbon
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Jun 18, 2025 In this engaging conversation, Shantanu Agarwal, Founder and CEO of Mati Carbon, shares insights on winning the Carbon Removal XPRIZE with innovative enhanced weathering techniques. He discusses how their mission-driven approach supports smallholder farmers in the Global South and embraces unconventional business strategies. Shantanu delves into the emotional intelligence required for effective leadership and highlights the scalability of their technology to boost agricultural productivity while addressing climate change.
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Mati's XPRIZE Win Story
- Mati Carbon won the $50 million Carbon Removal XPRIZE by building a robust and scalable enhanced rock weathering approach.
- They achieved this working with smallholder farmers in difficult geographies and proving 1,000 tons of removal during demonstration.
Solve Smallholder Farmer Challenges
- Build technology that economically enables working with smallholder farmers and dispersed operations.
- Use robust, scientific data collection with audit trails and adapt to low connectivity environments.
Persist When Mission Drives You
- Decide to persist based on a clear mission that motivates you beyond conventional wisdom.
- Focus on why you serve your target group, even if others say it's impossible or unprofitable.