Sustainable agriculture startup Black Bull Biochar (BBB) has secured £4 million in a late seed funding round to expand operations across the North West of England and accelerate its entry into northern Europe.
The round includes £2 million in equity from TSP Ventures, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Investment Fund and Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s in-house venture investment fund, alongside £2 million in debt financing from Innovate UK’s Future Economy Facility.
The funding will enable BBB to take biochar innovation to the next level, building on projects with Avara Foods, M&S, Ahlstrom, A.W. Jenkinson and Arla Foods, while expanding its production infrastructure to meet growing demand across agriculture and industry.
The investment will support new production sites, expanded research capacity, new markets (BBB recently opened a subsidiary in Denmark) and the relocation of BBB’s headquarters from London to Manchester.
Biochar is a form of stable carbon created by heating organic material such as woodchip or straw pellets in a low-oxygen environment, a process known as pyrolysis.
BBB’s technology decarbonises industrial heat systems while restoring soil health on farms through high-quality biochar produced from sustainably sourced biomass, all whilst storing carbon in soils for thousands of years.
The result is a carbon-rich material that can be added to soils with organic fertiliser to improve long-term soil health and productivity, increasing crop yields while minimising on-farm emissions.
BBB was co-founded in 2022 by Alex Clarke and Hamish Creber, who completed his PhD in Soil Sciences at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Geosciences. The team will continue to work closely with Professor Saran Sohi to develop the next generation of biochar products, drawing on leading academic expertise in soil science, carbon removal and biochar functionality.
Alex Clarke, CEO, said:
Farmers are under pressure from every direction: rising costs, tougher nutrient rules, and the need to build more resilient soils. Our aim is to give producers practical tools that fit straight into existing systems.
By turning sustainably sourced biomass into renewable heat for industry and high-impact biochar tailored for farms, we can strengthen soil health, improve nutrient-use efficiency, and store carbon.”
Katharine Fox, Head of Investment at Old College Capital said:
We are delighted to support Black Bull Biochar in this investment round and with its ongoing collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. This partnership demonstrates how first-class academic research and commercial innovation can work together to accelerate solutions to the world’s climate and environmental crisis.”
