Why we need more early-stage investors for nature

This year, capital markets have turned sharply cautious, leaving early-stage ventures in a deep freeze. Only about $2.3 billion has flowed to sustainability start-ups so far this year, two-thirds less than in the same period last year. Venture funds are nervous, deal counts have shrunk and exit options are dwindling.

In practice, this means only a few “megadeals” are happening. For example, Colossal Biosciences – a de-extinction biotech – closed a $200 million Series C round in January and UK-based NatureMetrics raised $25 million to scale its eDNA biodiversity monitoring.

These headlines stand out because most early-stage nature start-ups are trying to fish for funds from what appears to be a frozen and shrinking pool. Many nature start-ups now survive on alternative finance: founders are issuing a “Simple Agreement for Future Equity” or convertible notes – loans that can be converted into equity – relying on philanthropy networks or crowdfunding. Without investors stepping up to the plate, promising nature ventures risk stalling.

If we are truly going to unlock a $10 trillion nature-positive economy, the long-term value creation and resilience benefits for nature-positive solutions will need to be realized.

It is clear that to transition from billions to trillions for nature, we will need all types of capital providers to get on board – particularly those willing to put in the initial investment.

We are already seeing large capital commitments and deals come to fruition. In January 2025, Swiss trader Mercuria announced a bold “Race to Belém” – an initiative to drive billions of private capital to protect Brazil’s ecosystems with the support of Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy.

This is the first major campaign of Mercuria’s $500 million Silvania Fund, a nature investment platform investing in the protection and restoration of nature.

The Race to Belém is establishing system wide programs (jurisdictional REDD+ projects), collaborating with states, farmers and communities to ensure that forests remain standing.

This effort exemplifies catalytic finance in action: a private company (Mercuria) anchors a fund, non-government organizations ensure science and integrity, state governments make commitments and local partners and communities deliver and receive the benefits.

Mercuria is not alone in these commitments – other corporates and large banks are charting new investment pathways. In March 2025, Goldman Sachs announced the launch of a biodiversity bond fund, which will directly fund biodiversity-related projects, including afforestation, conservation and pollution prevention.

This presents interesting opportunities and new ways for capital to be deployed using fixed-income instruments.

Furthermore, asset managers are continuing to seek new ways to educate and engage corporates on biodiversity issues and take action. For example, in April, Mirova, a long-time asset manager focusing on nature and biodiversity, announced a doubling down on its campaign to engage with companies listed on the STOXX 600.

The money needed to tackle biodiversity loss is truly vast, with the annual nature finance gap estimated at around $700 billion per year. In practice, solving a challenge this big will require new forms of collaboration. Private investors, development banks, governments, local communities and indigenous peoples all have a role.

For early-stage investors, nature – and particularly water – is arguably the greatest asset mispricing opportunity today. This next generation of early-stage investors, who are willing to test and scale nature-positive businesses, have the chance to capture an economic return and play a role in shifting markets around reforestation, soil health, biodiversity credits, water security and resilience that contribute to a positive nature uplift.

This is why the World Economic Forum’s UpLink Nature Returns Investor Challenge is calling on early-stage investors to step up when it comes to nature, food and water. The challenge invites corporate venture capital and impact funds, venture capital firms, family offices and other early-stage capital providers to apply.

Those selected from the challenge will join the UpLink innovation ecosystem, which aims to grow and scale novel and early-stage solutions targeting the world’s most intractable problems.

In a world where money chases money, we need bolder and ambitious leaders to create new pathways and investments in nature that can generate new pockets of long-term value and resilience for our economy and society, which we desperately need today.

Investing in nature is not a “risky bet;” it’s a conscious decision to deliver more value to a tree in the ground than a tree cut down. We need more early-stage investors willing to make those decisions and put in the work to realize the economic returns and deliver high-quality impact.

“I fundamentally believe that when we invest, we don’t predict the future. That’s like looking backwards. We are shaping it,” states Sindre Ostgard, chairman of the Board of Katapult Ocean, UpLink Investor and leading ocean start-up investor.

The road to a nature-positive future has already begun – not as a cost or a due diligence risk check but rather as a means of putting nature at the centre of our economic decision-making and fully recognizing intact and restored nature as delivering long-term economic value.

UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s early-stage innovation initiative, is enabling and accelerating the purpose-driven entrepreneurs that are essential for a net-zero, nature-positive, and equitable future. To find out more and join the UpLink community, click here.