India, April 23 -- Mati Carbon, a Houston-based climate tech startup, has won the $50 million grand prize in the global XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, funded by Elon Musk's foundation.
The contest, launched in 2021, drew over 1,300 teams from 88 countries, aiming to accelerate scalable carbon removal technologies to combat global warming.
Mati's winning solution leverages enhanced rock weathering-a natural process accelerated by spreading finely crushed basalt on farmland. When rain interacts with atmospheric CO2, it forms a weak acid that breaks down the rock, converting CO2 into bicarbonate that is eventually carried to the ocean, where it remains stored for thousands of years. The technique also improves soil fertility and crop pro...