Tivano Gains Funding to Expand African Carbon Project
The firm is scaling its biomass storage operations to combat savanna degradation and increase certified carbon removal.
Updated on Oct. 21, 2026 in Environmental
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Tivano has received a CHF 500,000 grant from the REPIC platform to expand its carbon removal operations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The funding will scale the firm's ecological restoration work from a 120-hectare demonstration phase to large-scale deployment.
Why it matters
The grant supports Tivano's effort to combat bush encroachment—the overgrowth of woody vegetation that degrades grasslands—by transforming biomass into a method for long-term carbon storage.
Tivano has achieved the sequestration of over 1,000 tonnes of CO2 and received 1,049 certified carbon removal credits from Puro.earth. This was validated across 120 hectares of land during the initial demonstration phase.
The players
Tivano
A Switzerland-based startup that develops methods for restoring grasslands and sequestering carbon through underground biomass storage.
REPIC
A funding platform that supports projects focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency in developing countries.
Puro.earth
A carbon removal standard and registry that provides certification for carbon removal credits.
The details
Tivano links ecological restoration with carbon removal by removing encroaching woody vegetation from savannas. The company then seals this biomass within underground vaults, a process that physically prevents the carbon from re-entering the atmosphere through natural decomposition. Project Butterfly involves the construction of a new storage vault to scale this method beyond the initial demonstration facility.
Timeline
October 21, 2026: Tivano officially secured the REPIC grant funding.
The Tech Race
Tivano is moving from a demonstration phase to large-scale deployment, following the standard validation path for engineered carbon removal solutions. The project competes for space within the emerging market of nature-based carbon sequestration, which relies on strict certification frameworks.
The expansion primarily impacts the carbon credit market by increasing the supply of certified removal credits available to corporate buyers. As Project Butterfly completes construction, the firm aims to demonstrate a scalable model for managing land health in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The takeaway
Tivano is scaling its savanna restoration process to turn brush removal into a scalable carbon storage business. Stakeholders should watch for the completion of the Project Butterfly vault to gauge the efficiency of this storage method at a larger scale.
Further reading
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Source note: This article includes information reported by Biochar Today.
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