Great political and socioeconomic forces seem averse to sustainability and environmental protection measures. However, persistence in sustainability reformation requires efforts in many sectors, including financial, legal, and institutional spheres.

One such effort is being made by Kushagra “Kush” Verma, a third-year Computer Science major at NJIT, minoring in math and finance. Verma, a Paul Profeta scholar who spent parts of his childhood growing up in China and India, is not just part of a movement to make finance a vehicle for sustainability — he is spearheading a new era of it. Over the past year, Verma developed his startup, Carbonforge, aiming to ameliorate the verification process for carbon credits.

While Carbonforge is poised to take on the vast carbon credit industry, it is far from Verma’s first foray into the cross of sustainability and entrepreneurship. In high school, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into isolation, he and his friend Utkarsh Sharma entered NASA’s space toilet challenge. Both lived in India at the time. Verma credits this experience as bolstering his entrepreneurial attitudes and spirit. It wasn’t a real startup, he admitted, but the experience of working on a project, day in and day out, and coordinating with a partner, gave him a base for what was to come. The final project is still up on Verma’s YouTube account.

From there, Verma had an idea: he designed something for space, so why not focus on Earth? He shifted his focus to issues back on the ground and took advantage of India’s infamously large cattle population: more specifically, the waste they produce. Verma and Sharma developed a business model to use cow dung for energy to balance the economic, social, and environmental trifecta of sustainability. Dairy farmers could have access to cheap electricity while having waste taken care of, and they could make fertilizer as a byproduct.

Since Verma and his friend were teenagers, the business model, which they named Vision Z Renewables, was never launched. However, it did not go unnoticed: Vision Z Renewables’ business model was published in Harvard Alumni Network’s Journal of Emerging Investigators, vetted by PhDs from Harvard, Duke, and UPenn. The budding entrepreneurs were also finalists at a startup competition based in Germany, but due to the pandemic, they could not attend.

However, this was just the beginning for Verma. He knew he wanted to pursue sustainability through entrepreneurial initiatives. After working on a small tech startup, Verma set his sights elsewhere: Carbonforge.

Carbonforge’s solution to the ambiguity and unreliable vetting of carbon credits was to evaluate and vet them. The global market for carbon credits, which is projected to reach $1,260.3 billion by the end of this year, is granted to companies that offset their waste through activities like reforestation and cutting emissions (Chavan 2025). These credits can then be sold to other companies not meeting environmental standards, and due to the money that can be made, these credits may incentivize firms to take further steps towards carbon neutrality.

While there may be concerns about the viability of sustainability measures in the current political climate, Verma asserts that climate change is not politically partisan mythology; it is a real issue that must be tackled. For whatever value added to society, there is also money to be made in the process. Companies can make money through various carbon-reducing strategies, and Carbonforge is bridging the ambiguity gap in the carbon credit market.

Verma’s technology allows for thorough evaluation of carbon credits in many sectors, and it will expand to cover areas such as reforestation, recycling, and emissions reductions. Carbonforge’s novel methods help prevent double-counting and significantly reduce the months-long process usually needed for credit verification in both fixed and voluntary markets. The implementation of Verma’s methods has major potential to clean up the carbon credit market, and the NJIT and greater Newark community seems to think so as well. 

Carbonforge was a finalist at the New Business Model Competition in December, and Verma aims to bring it to market this summer. In the process, Verma also wants to work with NJIT to establish a carbon credit system for the university, making it the first state school to do so, and boosting NJIT’s sustainability initiatives and helping it meet its 2040 climate goals. The efforts to establish NJIT carbon credits would incentivize greater sustainability measures by the university and would cement NJIT as a leader of public universities in sustainability efforts.

As for his connection to NJIT through the early stages of Carbonforge, Verma acknowledges early research mentor Dr. SangWoo Park, NJIT Board of Overseers member Paul Profeta, and those involved in the Center for Student Entrepreneurship. He credits Dr. Kathy Naasz and CSE Coordinator Marissa Vargas for their support and encouragement of participation in the Hult Prize and other university competitions.

Looking to the future, Carbonforge and entrepreneurship in the name of sustainability is where Verma wishes to stay. He wants to keep working towards a sustainable future, despite outside actors. His perseverance and dedication in contributing to the planet’s betterment are products of his values, an aspect Verma has carried through all his projects. He lives by the Naval Ravikant quote: “Add value to the lives of people, and they will incentivize you monetarily.”