State of the Sector – Investment in Carbon Dioxide Removals (CDR) | Insight Report | 2025

The data is clear: over $9.8 billion has poured into carbon dioxide removal (CDR), and the market has produced 12 million tons of annual removal capacity so far. Capital efficiency across different CDR types is going to be a core parameter to track over the coming years.

Investment in Carbon Dioxide Removals (CDR) key insights:

• Capital Efficiency Under Scrutiny- For every billion dollars invested, about a million tons of annual removal capacity has been secured. Increasing the rate of sequestration for every dollar invested, presents an opportunity for growth and innovation. Intellectual property is being created to enable that. The report documents the patents created and filed across geographies and sectors.

• Public vs. Private Support – Nearly half of all funding comes from public and philanthropic sources. With $4.5 billion in grants almost matching $4.9 billion in private equity, the industry still relies heavily on non-commercial capital to bridge risk and unlock scale.

• Concentrated Demand – In 2024, Microsoft alone accounted for 80% of all high-durability CDR pre-purchases. That level of concentration poses serious risk to market stability and growth.

• A Two-Track Market Is Emerging

  • Track 1 – Commercially viable solutions like BECCS and Afforestation/Reforestation are stacking revenue streams and attracting institutional capital. These models are already bankable—and scaling.

  • Track 2 – Long-term, transformative technologies like DAC are still in the early innings. They’re being fueled by patient capital and bold public programs like the U.S. DAC Hubs, with an eye toward gigaton-scale removals in the decades ahead.

• Flight to Quality – A necessary shakeout is coming. As speculative hype fades, capital will shift toward operational excellence and delivery certainty. This “flight to quality” will reward companies that can scale with stability—and survive the leap from voluntary markets to compliance integration.

CDR is no longer a niche play. It’s evolving into a sector with real infrastructure, complex supply chains, and rising expectations. The next phase will require not just vision, but execution. And as policymakers move toward incorporating carbon removal into compliance markets, the stakes—and the opportunities—are only getting higher.

Whether you’re an investor, policymaker, project developer, or curious observer, this report is essential reading. It’s time to move beyond the hype and face the hard numbers. This is the real state of the sector—and the future of carbon removal starts here.

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Table of Contents

List of Figures……………………………………………………………………..	3
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………	4
The CDR Investment Landscape: A Snapshot……………………………………………….	6
USD 9.8 Billion+ of Capital Commitments Made Towards CDR………………………	6
Equity: USD 4.9 Billion raised………………………………………………………..	7
Median of Equity Raise Announcements Have Been in the $10m Range but Number of Transactions Have Increased ……………………………………………………………………………………………………	7
Debt: USD 0.4 Billion………………………………………………………………………………………………………	8
Debt Raise Happening Mainly in ARR and BECCS Projects: ………………………………….	8
Grant support: USD 4.5 Billion till date……………………………………………….	9
Current State: ~12 Million tCO2e of Annual Removal Capacity…………………………… ..	10
The Capital-to-Capacity Gap: An Overview……………………………………………….	10
Deconstructing the Capital Stack………………………………………………………	12
Equity Investment: Fueling the Future………………………………………………….	12
Venture Capital: Betting on Breakthrough Technology and “Out of the Park” Returns…………..	12
Project & Growth Equity: The Role of “Boring Returns” in Scaling Proven Models………….	13
Key Players Along the Stack and Their Theses……………………………………………	14
Project Debt: A Sign of Maturing Markets……………………………………………….	16
Focus on ARR and BECCS: Where Scale Attracts Leverage…………………….. ……………	17
The Role of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs)……………………………………..	18
Catalytic Capital: The Critical Role of Grants and Subsidies……………………………..	18
Government Support as a De-risking Mechanism (e.g., DAC Hubs, BECCS Contracts)……………..	18
Philanthropic and Non-Profit Support (e.g., XPRIZE)……………………………………..	19
The Demand Conundrum: A Critical Investment Risk………………………………………..	20
Engineered Removal…………………………………………………………………..	20
Nature-based Removals………………………………………………………………..	23
The Voluntary Market: Highly Concentrated and Nearing its Limits………………………….	24
The Path to Compliance: What’s Needed to Unlock Gigaton-Scale Investment?………………….	25
Protocol Dependencies: Which Pathways Can Survive on Voluntary Demand vs. Which Require Compliance?…………………………………………………………………………………………………..	25
IP created and role of IP in sectors…………………………………………………..	27
~2400 Patents Filed Across Segments, with DAC Leading at 1700+ Followed by Soil at 500+ Patents………………………………………………………………………………………………………	27
Those Raising Capital Hold 156 Patents in US, EU, UK (6.5% of Overall Patents)……………..	28
Deep Dive: State of the Protocols…………………………………………………….	30
Direct Air Capture (DAC)…………………………………………………………….	30
Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS)………………………………………	33
Afforestation, Reforestation & Revegetation (ARR)……………………………………..	35
Biochar………………………………………………………………………… …………………………	38
Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW)……………………………………………………….	41
Soil Carbon Sequestration……………………………………………………………	44
Conclusion: Key Outlook – Where Capital Flows Now………………………………………..	46
Annexes……………………………………………………………………………………………………..	47
Categorized Directory of Key Players……………………………………………………	47
Investors……………………………………………………………………………………………………..	47
Developers…………………………………………………………………………………………………….	58
Buyers……………………………………………………………………………………………………….	74
About cCarbon……………………………………………………………………………………………………..	78
Rights to Publication……………………………………………………………………………………………………	78
Disclaimer……………………………………………………………………………………………………	78

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