Windfall Bio has recently closed a $9 million seed round to begin the first-ever solution for capturing and transforming climate-harming methane emissions into living organic fertilizer. The seed round was led by Mayfield and UNTITLED, a venture fund founded by Magnus Rausing of the TetraLaval Family. The startup is developing a unique solution for one of the most underappreciated global warming problems, diluting methane emissions. The technology uses proprietary nature-based technology that enriches natural methane-eating microbes (MEMs) from the soil, which consume methane directly while also capturing nitrogen from the air to produce an organic fertilizer with better bioavailability, reduced runoff, and reduced downstream emissions compared to synthetic ammonia fertilizers.
Windfall Bio’s solution provides a win-win-win for farmers, consumers, and the climate, enabling sustainable farming practices for both large and small farms. The low-cost, low-maintenance solution captures methane emissions, currently regarded as waste. It transforms them into high-value organic fertilizers that can be used on-site or sold to generate new revenue streams. Windfall Bio’s technology aims to address methane emissions, the most impactful strategy available today to address near-term climate change. The company is one of the first to tackle very dilute and atmospheric methane removal, especially in agriculture. They are expected to accelerate R&D activities while beginning pilot deployments on farms with the recently closed funding.
Josh Silverman, CEO and co-founder of Windfall Bio, states that their methane-to-fertilizer solution is a paradigm shift for climate technologies. Windfall’s technology represents a unique solution for addressing methane emissions, responsible for over half of the current atmospheric warming. With global methane emissions reaching around 580 million metric tons in 2022, the technology can significantly impact climate change. The organic fertilizer produced by the technology is more natural for soils and the environment and is available at the same price as current organic fertilizers. The solution is expected to improve efficiency and overall economics while promoting sustainable farming practices.
Photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash
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