Climate tech

Q3 202429.07.2024

Biodiversity & Conservation (2024)

Picture of Shubham Jaipuria

Shubham Jaipuria

at Sifted

This won’t be news to anyone: the world’s biodiversity is under serious threat from multiple fronts, including pollution, overfishing, deforestation and climate change. And with over half of global economic output dependent on nature, the situation will only get worse if we don’t intervene.

Investments to preserve biodiversity have been pretty slow to take off — but this is beginning to change. Data from Dealroom suggests that funding into biodiversity and conservation is on the rise in Europe, pulling in $249m so far this year, which is not very far off the $288m the sector attracted in 2023 or the $410m the sector biodiversity-focused bets raised in 2022.

The market is slowly coming to life because pressure is growing on companies to disclose biodiversity risk and take actions to mitigate losses. Startups including the UK's NatureMetrics and Pivotal, for example, are helping companies to track and monitor their impact on nature. London-based Zulu Ecosystems is connecting land owners with businesses that want to make land restoration efforts.

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).

Europe’s biodiversity tech scene is young, as evidenced by the lack of late-stage deals, and the true potential for the market remains unclear — in the meantime, however, there are plenty of companies that feel it’s too risky to stay on the sidelines.

20 most promising early-startups to watch

Sifted score
7.3
-
Ava Ocean
Sustainable scallop harvesting for conservation.
Serial founder(s)
- Year founded
  2016
- HQ
  Ålesund, Norway
- Latest round
  Early VC
  €10m / Aug 2023
- Total funding
  €41.3m
View company profile
Sifted score
5.96
-
OroraTech
Real-time wildfire prediction using satellites.
Strong investor(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2018
- HQ
  Munich, Germany
- Latest round
  Grant
  €20m / Jul 2024
- Total funding
  €41.9m
View company profile
Sifted score
5.83
-
Pina Earth
Forest transformation financing through carbon offsetting.
Strong investor(s)
Serial founder(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2021
- HQ
  Starnberg, Germany
- Latest round
  Seed
  €2.3m / Jul 2022
- Total funding
  €2.4m
View company profile
Sifted score
5.56
-
Basecamp Research
Protein discovery and experimentation platform.
Strong investor(s)
Serial founder(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2019
- HQ
  London, United Kingdom
- Latest round
  Series A
  €18.2m / Dec 2022
- Total funding
  €18.2m
View company profile
Sifted score
5.15
-
The Landbanking Group
Nature-based asset management for regenerative land practices.
Serial founder(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2022
- HQ
  Munich, Germany
- Latest round
  Early VC
  €10m / Oct 2023
- Total funding
  €10m
View company profile

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