# Julia Reichelstein

> Julia Reichelstein is the co-founder and CEO of Vaulted Deep, a Houston-based carbon removal company that pumps carbon-rich organic waste up to 5,000 feet underground for permanent storage. A Stanford economist who built a fintech firm in Kenya and invested in climate tech at Piva Capital, she partnered with deep-well injection expert Omar Abou-Sayed to spin Vaulted out of Advantek Waste Management in 2023. The company won the $8M XPRIZE Carbon Removal in 2024 and has signed offtake deals with Microsoft, Google, and Frontier Climate.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Vaulted Deep
- **Organizations:** Vaulted Deep, Piva Capital, Advantek Waste Management
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Economics, Stanford University, MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Vaulted Deep, a permanent carbon removal company, Won the $8 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal in 2024, removing ~10,000 tonnes in the demo phase (roughly 10x the benchmark), Signed one of the largest carbon removal agreements to date with Microsoft (4.9 million metric tons)

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Worked in international development in Peru and Kenya, living in East Africa for nearly five years
- **pre-2020** — Built a fintech startup in Kenya using alternative-data credit scoring to expand financial access for unbanked populations
- **2020** — Earned MBA from Stanford GSB and joined Piva Capital as a climate/deep-tech venture investor
- **2021** — Cold-contacted Omar Abou-Sayed for advice and discovered his deep-well waste injection technology aligned with her climate goals
- **2023** — Co-founded Vaulted Deep, spinning it out of Abou-Sayed's Advantek Waste Management
- **2024** — Vaulted Deep won the $8M XPRIZE Carbon Removal; raised Series A led by Prelude Ventures
- **2025** — Named to Inc.'s Best Startup on a Mission; signed major offtake deals with Microsoft, Google and Frontier Climate

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Vaulted Deep, a permanent carbon removal company
- Won the $8 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal in 2024, removing ~10,000 tonnes in the demo phase (roughly 10x the benchmark)
- Signed one of the largest carbon removal agreements to date with Microsoft (4.9 million metric tons)
- Secured offtake partnerships with Google and Frontier Climate
- Raised over $40 million in equity funding (Series A led by Prelude Ventures)
- Vaulted Deep named Inc. Magazine's 2025 Best Startup on a Mission

## Latest updates

- **2025** — Vaulted Deep named Inc.'s Best Startup on a Mission; forecasted 175% year-over-year revenue growth and expansion to new sites including Colorado
- **2024-11** — Closed Series A funding (~$32M) bringing total equity raised to over $40 million

## Links

- Website: https://vaulteddeep.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jreichelstein/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/julia-reichelstein
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-11