Our purpose is to help support the CDR ecosystem in learning, decreasing costs, increasing maturity as well as removing carbon in the short term. We have partnered with several corporate organizations including donors to our Climate Transformation Fund and companies wanting to procure CDR, both for catalytic purposes and to meet their near-term targets.

To read more about the work Milkywire has done in carbon removal and which startups we have supported to date, please visit: https://www.milkywire.com/carbon-removal/catalog 

Categories

A. Discovery - Novel carbon removal (Call for proposals)

This category is for genuinely new carbon removal ideas that have not yet been tested in the real world.

We are looking for approaches that, if successful, could be significantly:

• cheaper,

• more resource-efficient,

• more scalable, or

• offer fundamentally better co-benefits than what exists today.

In this category, we are not looking to fund any carbon removal approaches that are functionally equivalent to projects being deployed today by other project developers.

The primary aim of Category A is discovery and innovation. However, some projects may also be too early-stage to qualify. In scope approaches must have been proven in laboratory or similar environments and reached TRL 3-4. 

Support in this category is primarily grant-based (with pre-purchases as an option), and focused on learning rather than near-term delivery of tonnes.

Examples from previous funding rounds: Kairos Carbon, Norma, Backwater Carbon

Preliminary application time commitment: 30-60 min

Funds primarily come from donations to the Climate Transformation Fund / WRLD Foundation, with expected support level per supplier to be in the USD 50–200k range.

Link to proposal form

B. Scale-up and de-risking pathways - surviving potential (Call for proposals)

This category is for approaches that have captured or removed carbon, but are not yet mature.

Typically, these are approaches that:

• have already deployed a successful early pilot or demonstration and are at a TRL 5-7,

• would likely have qualified for category A, when the approach was at a lower TRL,

• have generated evidence showing their core thesis and potential still holds, very likely removing some carbon in the process.

Qualifying projects remain promising and still have credible potential to outperform or meaningfully complement existing methods on cost, scalability, or resource use. However, realizing that potential, and crossing the technological “valley of death” requires continued support. The impact of the support relative to total project cost will be weighted heavily. 

Our support in this category is intended to help suppliers who aim to:

• test whether that potential survives next step scale-up,

• resolve decisive uncertainties,

• bring down costs,

• enable a clear next decision about future scale or viability.

Typical support is in the range of USD 200–350k pre-purchases (paid out in milestones).

Preliminary application time commitment: 45-75 min

Funds come from partners to Milkywire aiming to make high-impact CDR purchases, and potentially from donations to the Climate Transformation Fund.

Link to proposal form

Information relevant for both Category A and B

For both Category A and B we use an initial, short proposal form designed to be quick to fill in. Longlisted candidates will be invited to submit a detailed application. Milkywire may choose to reclassify applications if they appear better suited to another category.

In both category A and B we have already funded Enhanced Rock Weathering deeply and are awaiting more data before proceeding with further support. Truly novel ERW approaches will be considered for category A. 

For this year's call Milkywire is particularly interested in ocean-based pathways, where uncertainty remains high and learning value is significant.

C. Mature supply - Low delivery risk (Request for information)

This category is for well-developed carbon removal methods that can deliver verified removals in the near term and are relevant for companies purchasing tonnes to meet their climate targets.

This is not a competitive proposal process. Instead, this is a request for information to inform procurement for operational net-zero and similar use cases.

Most biochar and biomass direct storage providers are expected to fall into this category. 

We ask suppliers in this category to submit basic information only, including:

• price per tonne,

• expected delivery volumes and timeline,

• registry or certification pathway,

• short project description.

Time commitment: less than 20 min. 

Funds for this category come from Milkywire partners that wish to make volume-based purchases of durable CDR. For this category we may seek additional information from highly-rated submissions at different times during the year.

Link to proposal form

All three categories are for durable carbon removal suppliers. The call is not open to:

• Pure research efforts.

• Short-term carbon storage, or storage with a high risk of reversal.
  (Carbon stored in living biomass such as forests is addressed in our CTF pillar Nature protection and restoration opportunities).

• Removal of other greenhouse gases. 

• CCS projects with capture of fossil-based carbon, or CCUS projects that result in the carbon being re-emitted. 

• CDR ecosystem-related services (such as MRV, policy, and other enabling activities) that do not directly remove carbon. 

Milkywire has a separate process for sourcing projects that are focused on emission reductions, as well as on protecting and restoring ecosystems. More information on that sourcing will follow later in 2026.

Application Process
All submissions are confidential, though aggregated data may be published for transparency, and applications may be shared with Milkywire partners under NDA. For questions, please contact: climate@milkywire.com.

Indicative timeline 

• Jan 12, 2026: CDR Call for proposals opens.

• Feb 8: Call for proposals closes.

• March: Longlisted applicants receive invitation to submit longer proposal.

• April-May: Review period, including advisory group review of full submissions.

• May: Final CDR selection confirmed for category A and B.

• May-June: Selected suppliers go through due diligence. 

• June-Aug 2026: CDR contracts finalized. 

Optional self-test to determine which category to apply for:

Answer the questions in order. Your answers will lead to one result only.

Q1. Have you already delivered verified durable carbon removal tonnes to an external buyer, or are you contractually committed to deliver such tonnes in the next 12–18 months under a recognized registry or certification pathway?
Yes → go to Q2
No → go to Q3

Q2. Is your current or near-term cost per tonne within a range that buyers could plausibly use for operational net-zero or similar climate targets today or in the near term?
Yes → Register your interest in Category C: mature supply
No → go to Q4

Q3. Have you operated a system in the real world (outside the lab) that has physically captured or removed CO₂, even if the carbon has not yet been durably stored or credited?
Yes → go to Q4
No → go to Q6

Q4. Would the next funded step test a single, specific claim such that: success would clearly justify major scale-up or procurement interest, and failure would reasonably imply the pathway should be stopped or fundamentally rethought?
Yes → go to Q5
No → Do not apply this year

Q5. Is the core carbon removal mechanism already established, with the main remaining risks related to cost, scale, durability, or system integration rather than basic feasibility?
Yes → Apply through Category B: scale-up and de-risking pathways
No → go to Q6

Q6. Has the core carbon removal mechanism been demonstrated in the lab or controlled environment (TRL 3–4), and does the approach represent a genuinely novel or clearly discontinuous advance beyond existing carbon removal projects?
Yes → go to Q7
No → Do not apply this year

Q7. Is the primary value of Milkywire support to generate new technical or system-level learning (i.e. not to for example just to extend runway)?
Yes → Apply through Category A: catalyst – novel carbon removal
No → Do not apply this year