Thezero: Funding Rounds, Investors & CEO

About Thezero

TheZero, also called Zero, makes biochar from organic waste. It takes crop, food, forestry and municipal waste, wet or dry, and carbonizes it with a proprietary low-energy process. The biochar either goes into permanent carbon storage or replaces coal in steel, cement and power generation. Zero also handles the waste itself, so one process serves waste management, carbon removals and industrial decarbonization. Zero's case is that its process costs the same as coal or less.

The company is based in Sunnyvale, California. It began as an idea at Stanford and grew out of early research and development on campus. Its team draws on Stanford, Caltech and UC Berkeley. Arun Majumdar and Yi Cui are co-founders and board members. Divya Chalise is co-founder and chief technology officer. Meng Sui is chief executive officer. Tata Steel Ltd. is named on the company's investors page.

Funding Rounds (SEC Form D)

First sale	Filed with SEC	Amount sold	Investors	Avg. check	Terms	Filing
Jun 25, 2025	Nov 5, 2026	$7,620,000of $9.0M target	13	$586K	Equity, Securities on exerciseRule 506(b)	Form D ↗

First sale is the date the first investor in the offering committed to invest. Companies must file Form D within 15 days of that date, so filing dates run later.

Why Investors Backed Thezero

Thezero makes biochar from organic waste. It sells the biochar as a coal replacement for industry and as permanent carbon storage. Its case is that a low-energy process puts the cost near that of coal. Tata Steel Ltd. is named on its investors page.

The problem it targets

Zero frames the problem in two parts. Heavy industry emits 20 to 30 gigatons of CO2 equivalent a year. Coal, oil, gas, steel and cement account for most global emissions. Crop, food and forestry waste, at 12 to 15 gigatons a year, adds billions of tons more as it decays and returns carbon to the air. Zero's view is that standard carbonization costs too much to compete with coal.

What the product does

The process has four steps. Wet or dry waste goes in as feedstock. A proprietary carbonization step with low energy input turns it into biochar. The biochar then goes to market as a coal replacement, as carbon removal or as a chemical input. Zero's case is that traditional pyrolysis needs extreme heat and its own process avoids that need. The same case lists a fraction of the capital cost, no explosion risk and full carbon retention.

Progress so far

Zero began as an idea at Stanford and grew out of early development on campus. The team page lists seven people. They include heads of research and development, commercialization and business operations, supply chain and operations, and intelligence. The company works from Sunnyvale, California. The site does not name customers or production volumes.

Who backs it

Tata Steel Ltd. is named on the investors page. The page describes the backers as climate, technology and infrastructure investors. It adds that they bring capital and experience in building companies and deploying infrastructure.

We wrote this summary from public statements by Thezero and its investors. It is not investment advice.