Wavemaker-backed WasteX raises $450k to expand biochar solution across Indonesia

This photo was enhanced with the use of Photoshop’s generative fill. / Photo credit: WasteX

WasteX, a climate tech startup operating in Indonesia and the Philippines, has raised US$450,000 from impact fund P4G Partnerships. The round comes less than two years after WasteX, which turns farm waste into biochar, launched out of venture builder Wavemaker Impact.

The company plans to use the fresh capital to establish biochar production facilities across Indonesia, in partnership with local mills and poultry farms.

The deal “requires and greatly supports the partnership to engage with national policy-making and market development,” said Pawel Kuznicki, founder and CEO of WasteX. “The objective is to facilitate the development of a favorable regulatory and commercial environment that would support the growth and adoption of the innovation.”

WasteX provides an end-to-end solution for farmers that can turn biomass into biochar through its proprietary, small-scale, and semiautomated carbonizer. While such equipment usually run on electricity, WasteX’s equipment operates using both biomass fuel and captured gas from the burning process of the organic matter.

The company says biochar has resulted in a 95% increase in yield for its partner corn farmers in the Philippines and Indonesia, while reducing fertilizer use by 50%. Farmers can also sell carbon credits through the WasteX app, as using the equipment leads to less emissions.

The use of biochar may come at an opportune time for farmers, as fertilizer prices worldwide continue to be volatile following geopolitical tensions and rising inflation. Prices have started to taper off last year, but threats of it rising again continues to linger.

Aside from Wavemaker Impact and P4G – whose grants are funded by the Danish, Dutch, and South Korean governments – WasteX also counts Tokyo-based Norinchukin Bank among its investors.

See also: SEA’s climate tech landscape: Energy solutions are making it rain