A Maturing Carbon Market Finds Its First Consolidators

Terradot’s acquisition of Eion marks a turning point for US carbon removal as scale, execution, and delivery begin to matter more than ambition

9 Feb 2026

The American carbon-removal business is shedding its start-up skin. An acquisition in enhanced rock weathering, a niche once dominated by pilots and promises, suggests the market is starting to value scale and delivery over novelty.

Terradot, a firm that removes carbon dioxide by spreading crushed minerals on farmland, has acquired key assets of Eion, a rival with a similar approach. Financial terms were not disclosed. Together the firms claim more than 400,000 tonnes of contracted carbon removal. In a young industry, that is no small feat. Buyers, increasingly wary of grand claims, now want proof that tonnes promised can be tonnes delivered.

This shift reflects a broader change in demand. Large companies are signing multi-year contracts rather than one-off purchases. Investors, meanwhile, have grown cautious as venture funding tightens. The result is a harsher test of credibility. Firms that can show repeatable performance, not just clever chemistry, are pulling ahead.

Enhanced rock weathering is simple in theory. Crushed silicate rocks are spread on fields, where they react slowly with carbon dioxide and lock it away. In practice the work is messy. It requires farmers’ trust, reliable supply chains and careful measurement to prove that carbon has truly been removed. Both Terradot and Eion have spent years building such systems with American agricultural partners.

By folding Eion’s team, data and contracts into its own operations, Terradot hopes to deploy projects more consistently across regions. James McDermott, Terradot’s boss, has argued that customer expectations have hardened quickly, favouring dependable delivery over early-stage ideas. Eion brings field experience and intellectual property that should help cut costs and speed expansion.

Analysts see the deal as part of a wider consolidation across carbon capture and removal. Verification standards are rising and capital is scarcer. Smaller developers face a choice: scale up fast or combine forces. Josh Curry, Eion’s co-founder, has noted that the market now rewards platforms that perform again and again, not those that merely run pilots.

Consolidation brings its own risks. Integrating operations can distract managers, and larger firms may struggle to innovate. Even so, the direction is clear. Carbon removal in America is growing more sober. By 2026 it may look less like a collection of experiments and more like an industry, judged, above all, by what it actually delivers.