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Biodiversity & conservation (2024)

The race to save endangered species and habitats

Last updated: 25 Jan 2024

Market 101

Our planet supports 8.7m species and their health is vital for many aspects of our lives. But around 1m species are currently threatened with extinction, according to UN estimates, as biodiversity suffers a steep decline due to pollution, overfishing, deforestation and climate change. Without swift intervention, the situation will get worse. Biodiversity decline isn’t merely a threat to life on Earth — it directly impacts global GDP, with over half of the world’s economic output dependent on nature. Who can help solve the accelerating wildlife crisis? And can the answers be market-driven?

Founders and investors are out to prove they can be. It’s early days for the sector, which has seen just two $40m+ rounds in Europe in the last decade, according to Dealroom data, but the arrival of new biodiversity-oriented investment funds, such as Greensphere’s £150m war chest, are positive steps towards closing “the biodiversity financing gap”. In 2022, startups working to improve planetary health in Europe secured $265m from investors; funding was relatively flat in 2023, reaching $261m.

The market is slowly taking off because pressure is growing for companies to disclose biodiversity risk and take actions to mitigate such losses. Startups including the UK's NatureMetrics and Pivotal, for example, are helping companies to track and monitor their impact on nature. Another trend in the industry is “tokenisation”, which involves breaking down vast bits of land into tradable assets, mirroring the approach taken with carbon offsets.

Startups are also helping to protect and restore the biodiversity of oceans, which cover 70% of the planet and play a crucial role in maintaining nature’s balance. A spate of new funds has sprung up in the past two years to address ocean biodiversity, including Katapult Ocean (€50m), Indico Capital (€50m), and Ocean 14 Capital (€200m). One of Katapult's portfolio companies is Faroe-Islands-based Ocean Rainforest, which is growing and processing seaweed for food, animal feed and healthcare. Rome-based Ittinsect, an Indico portfolio company, is pioneering sustainable aquaculture feed using insects.

The relatively modest funding scene — just nine out of 99 biodiversity deals in the past two years got to Series B and beyond — underscores how there’s a long way to go for the industry. However, the launch of new funds signals a growing interest.

Early stage market map

Key facts

2

biodiversity-focused startups — London’s Slyvera and Denmark’s Agreena — have raised $40m+ rounds1

€1

invested in nature restoration adds €8-38 in benefits2

21%

of biodiversity loss is caused by agriculture3

Trends to watch

  1. Life below water

    Billions depend on the ocean for food and economic security; it has also helped to mitigate climate change, absorbing over 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases so far. But it suffers from overfishing, oil spills and plastic pollution. Illegal fishing alone accounts for 20% of the global catch, and oceans harbour over 51tn pieces of microplastics.

    Startups are helping to protect and restore the ocean’s biodiversity. Paris-based Atlan Space, for example, develops drones to monitor illegal fishing, while Bristol-based Matter has created a system that can be retrofitted to washing machines to capture microfibres, therefore preventing them from ending up in the sea.

  2. Life on land

    The growing population has led to an increase in demand for housing and food, leading to increased levels of deforestation and over-farming, which damages natural habitats and biodiversity.

    Human activity in the Amazon rainforest, for example, has contributed to biodiversity harm. Where previously the giant forest had been a carbon sink absorbing emissions, it’s now releasing billions of tonnes of carbon — partially the result of tree cutting and fires — with consequences far beyond South America.

    Founders in Europe are coming up with promising ways to protect and manage land better. Germany’s Soilytix is monitoring soil biodiversity, including bacteria, fungi and microfauna, helping companies measure the carbon removal potential of their farms while maximising crop yields. Another startup, the UK's Zulu Ecosystems, offers software to connect land owners with businesses that aim to make land restoration efforts.

  3. Rise of biodiversity credits

    Biodiversity credits are tradeable securities representing a unit of biodiversity improvement. This market could reach $69bn by 2050, according to the World Economic Forum. By assigning economic value to the conservation or renewal of biodiversity, proponents argue these credits could play a crucial role in mitigating species loss and habitat destruction. Others fear that market-driven schemes can do more harm than good. Doubters point out that the market’s an unregulated free-for-all — a venue for greenwashing.

    European startups are helping to shape the young industry. London-based Kita, for example, helps insure projects that involve biodiversity credits. As there are often long waits associated with realising these credits, especially in forestry projects that may extend beyond 10 years, Kita steps in to offer protection against unforeseen events.

  4. Increased policy attention boosts the market

    195 nations, meeting at the COP15 summit in 2022, agreed to protect and restore at least 30% of the Earth’s land and water by 2030.

    Closer to home, the EU introduced the landmark nature restoration law in 2023, aiming to protect 20% of the bloc’s land and seas by the end of the decade, which of course falls short of the COP15’s 30% target.

    This policy push is meaningful, but won’t change the game overnight for biodiversity. What it will do is get businesses and governments more in the habit of measuring “nature-positive” impacts, and in the process spur demand for tools, new methods, and technology to value this stuff better.

Startups tracked by Sifted

Sifted take

Healthy nature is integral to the wellbeing of the planet. But bright red flags are fluttering: 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been lost in the last five decades, while animal populations worldwide have plummeted nearly 70% since 1970. The forest cover equivalent of 11 football fields was lost every minute in 2022. These statistics are reasons to get serious on biodiversity conservation. The European tech ecosystem is young, as evidenced by the dearth of late-stage deals, and the availability of reliable biodiversity data is limited for now. But the stronger policy push we’re seeing over the last two years, and the appearance of new funds, should spur the industry.

Rising stars

Pivotal

Biodiversity research & design projects

Total funding

€6.2m

Cambridge, United Kingdom
2022

UK-based startup that records biodiversity data using technologies like drones. Its last round of €5.4m was raised from investors including Octopus Ventures.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Date

2023

Size

€5.4m

OroraTech

Forestry/land & agriculture

Total funding

€21m

Munich, Germany
2018

Munich-based intelligence startup that delivers thermal data from satellites to monitor the Earth. It counts European Innovation Council, Plug and Play, the European Space Agency, EUSPA, Ananda Impact Ventures, APEX Ventures and Bayern Kapital among its investors.

Round

Series A

Valuation

Undisclosed

Date

2022

Size

€15m

MORFO

Forestry/land & agriculture

Total funding

€3.6m

Paris, France
2021

Backed by Demeter Partners, RAISE Ventures, AFI Ventures and Teampact Ventures, Morfo helps to restore forests.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Date

2022

Size

€3.6m

goodcarbon

Green recovery financial investments

Total funding

€6.5m

Berlin, Germany
2021

Berlin-based startup backed by 468 Capital, Planet A Ventures and Greenfield One that has developed a trading platform for carbon credits.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Date

2021

Size

€5.5m

Early stage startups to watch

ACUA Ocean

London, United Kingdom
2020
 Early VC

€890k

€120k

-

Alberami SRL - Società Benefit

Lecce, Italy
2021
 Seed

€1m

€600k

-

Algapelago

London, United Kingdom
2021
 Seed

€400k

€400k

-

Arbonics

Tallinn, Estonia
2022
 Seed

€7.3m

€5.5m

-

ARC Marine

Torquay, United Kingdom
2015
 Grant

€2.5m

€2.5m

-

Ava Ocean

Ålesund, Norway
2016
 Early VC

€41.3m

€10m

-

Basecamp Research

London, United Kingdom
2019
 Series A

€18.2m

€18.2m

-

BIOCEANOR

Valbonne, France
2018
 Seed

€3.5m

€500k

-

Blusink

London, United Kingdom
2022
 Seed

€350k

€350k

-

CollectiveCrunch Oy

Espoo, Finland
2016
 Early VC

€5.5m

€1.4m

-

Coolx

Madrid, Spain
2022
 Seed

€155k

€155k

-

Corekees

Rotterdam, Netherlands
2018
 Series A

€700k

€500k

-

Credite Nature

Harwell, United Kingdom
2021
 Angel

€560k

€560k

-

Diatom

The Hague, Netherlands
2023

-

-

-

-

Dryad Networks

Eberswalde, Germany
2020
 Early VC

€13.9m

€10.5m

-

Earth Blox

Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2019
 Seed

€1.8m

€1.8m

-

Earthly

London, United Kingdom
2018
 Seed

€1.1m

€670k

-

Ecosystem Restoration Standard

Paris, France
2020
 Seed

€7.5m

€5m

-

Endangered Wildlife OÜ

Tallinn, Estonia
2019
 Angel

€735k

€735k

-

Entail

Oslo, Norway
2016
 Grant

€80k

€80k

-

EOLAS Insight Ltd

Glasgow, United Kingdom
2020
 Seed

€170k

€170k

-

Forestbase

Zürich, Switzerland
2021
 Angel

€2.5m

€2.5m

-

Forestsat

Oslo, Norway
2021
 Angel

€70k

€70k

-

FOROS

Vilnius, Lithuania
2018
 Seed

€1.3m

€1.2m

-

Future Forest Company

Darlington, United Kingdom
2017
 Grant

-

-

-

Gentian

London, United Kingdom
2020
 Seed

€1.6m

€1.4m

-

goodcarbon

Berlin, Germany
2021
 Seed

€6.5m

€5.5m

-

Green Praxis

Aix en Provence, France
2020
 Seed

€170k

€310k

-

Highlands Rewilding

Inverness, United Kingdom
2020
 Grant

€1.4m

€230k

-

HonuWorx

Aberdeen, United Kingdom
2020
 Seed

€1.5m

€1m

-

hummingbirds

Paris, France
2022
 Debt

€12.5m

€1.5m

-

HydroSurv

Exeter, United Kingdom
2019
 Seed

€264k

€136k

-

Hyggligt

Stockholm, Sweden
2023
 Seed

€50k

€50k

-

Inverto Earth AG

Bern, Switzerland
2022
 Grant

€500k

€100k

-

Kanop

Gif-sur-Yvette, France
2021
 Seed

€1.1m

€1.1m

-

Leeana

Munich, Germany
2023
 Bootstrapped

-

-

-

Limenet

Lecco, Italy
2023
 Seed

€1.9m

€1.9m

-

Lobster Robotics

Delft, Netherlands
2021
 Seed

€410k

€350k

-

Mejor Technologies

Amersfoort, Netherlands
2021
 Seed

-

-

-

MORFO

Paris, France
2021
 Seed

€3.6m

€3.6m

-

Natcap research

London, United Kingdom
2018
 Seed

€2.9m

€2.5m

-

Nature Metrics

Guildford, United Kingdom
2014
 Early VC

€38.5m

€11.8m

-

Nordluft Automation

Stockholms kommun, Sweden
2017
 Support Program

€180k

€180k

-

OCELL

Munich, Germany
2019
 Seed

€4.9m

€4.9m

-

OroraTech

Munich, Germany
2018
 Series A

€21m

€15m

-

ORYGEN

Madrid, Spain
2022
 Grant

€280k

€80k

-

Overstory

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2018
 Series A

€22.7m

€12.7m

-

Pina Earth

Starnberg, Germany
2021
 Seed

€2.3m

€2.3m

-

Pivotal

Cambridge, United Kingdom
2021
 Seed

€6.2m

€5.4m

-

PlanBlue

Bremen, Germany
2017
 Seed

€2.5m

-

-

Planted

Cologne and Berlin, Germany
2021
 Seed

€2m

€2m

-

Plantvation

Sundsvall Municipality, Sweden
2019
 Seed

-

€640k

-

POLYFLY

Almería, Spain
2017
 Grant

€1.3m

€1.3m

-

RanMarine Technology

Rotterdam, Netherlands
2016
 Series A

€1.6m

€1.6m

-

Reef Support

Noordwijk, Netherlands
2020
 Support Program

-

-

-

Restor

Zurich, Switzerland
2021
 Grant

€1.7m

€1.7m

-

Rhizocore Technologies

edinburgh, United Kingdom
2021
 Series A

€3.5m

€3.5m

-

Sand to Green

VERSAILLES, France
2022
 Seed

€1.2m

€787k

-

Satelligence

Utrecht, Netherlands
2016
 Seed

€2.3m

€2.3m

-

SeaCras

Zagreb, Croatia
2020
 Seed

€350k

€50k

-

Seafields Solutions

Stockport, United Kingdom
2021
 Grant

€300k

€300k

-

Seaweed Generation

Glasgow, United Kingdom
2021
 Seed

€2m

€1.2m

-

Single.Earth

Tallinn, Estonia
2019
 Debt

€7.5m

€750k

-

Skyseed

Berlin, Germany
2021
 Seed

€3.9m

€3.9m

-

Soilytix GmbH

Hamburg, Germany
2021
 Bootstrapped

€400k

€330k

-

Syrenna

Oslo, Norway
2022
 Bootstrapped

€865k

€150k

-

Thalasso AS

Florø, Norway
2020
 Seed

€600k

€600k

-

The Great Bubble Barrier

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2017
 Grant

€2.1m

€2.1m

-

The Landbanking Group

Munich, Germany
2022
 Seed

€11m

€11m

-

Treeapp

London, United Kingdom
2019
 Seed

€700k

€350k

-

TreeCard

London, United Kingdom
2020
 Early VC

€26.4m

€20.9m

-

Treeconomy

London, United Kingdom
2018
 Support Program

€554k

€554k

-

Verna

London, United Kingdom
2020
 Seed

€900k

€900k

-

Vlinder

Hallein, Austria
2019
 Seed

€2.5m

€1.6m

-

Xilva

Zurich, Switzerland
2021
 Seed

€1.6m

€1.6m

-

XOCEAN

Dundalk, Ireland
2017
 Early VC

€18.4m

€8m

-

zeroCO2

Rome, Italy
2019
 Seed

€300k

€300k

-

Europe’s success stories

Who early stage startups are up against

Agreena

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

Agreena raised a $50m Series B in 2023 to develop its trading platform for carbon certificates, which farmers gain for so-called regenerative agriculture practices.

Sylvera

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

Sylvera develops software to assess carbon projects focused on capturing, removing, or preventing emissions. Among its investors are Balderton Capital, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, Seedcamp, Speedinvest, Bain and Company and Salesforce.

Sources

Data sources

Sifted | Proprietary data

Dealroom.co | Data

Other

1 Dealroom | 

2 Nature restoration law | European Comission

Research reports

3 Biodiversity: state of habitats and species | January 2024 | European Environment Agency

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