UK-based nature platform provider Natcap will seek to accelerate product development and commercialise its technologies after successfully closing a £2.5 million seed round.

The venture, launched in 2018 and founded by Kathy Willis, a professor of biodiversity at Oxford University, has been developing a suite of proprietary models to measure soil health, biodiversity, and carbon.

However, the company is now in the process of developing new technology on nature-related impacts and dependencies, and aims to speed that up backed by its new seed funding.

“We are currently developing our new nature engine that measures nature-related impacts and dependencies for a single asset or an aggregated portfolio or supply chain,” CEO Sebastian Leape told Carbon Pulse.

“We see this as the next generation of nature measurement solutions as it is sensitive to the location of those assets, how they are being managed on the ground, and the specific economic process that is underway,” said Leape.

The seed investment was led by Oxford Science Enterprises, an early stage venture firm that focuses on commercialising technology originating in Oxford, and also included London-based investment firm Blenheim, UK asset manager Schroders, and angel investor Ed Clarke.

Pressure on global corporations to start reporting on their impact and dependencies on nature has been steadily growing in recent years with many governments preparing legislation or guidelines of how to do so.

The December agreement over a new Global Biodiversity Network adds to that, though a number of reports have showed that many companies remain clueless on the topic.

In response, a variety of companies and products are emerging, offering businesses assistance on getting their biodiversity house in order, with Natcap among those.

“Our engine provides a quantitative approach to measurement. For dependencies, we quantify the supply and demand of ecosystem services, while for impact we look at both the magnitude and significance of assets,” said Leape.

The company has been working with more than 30 clients applying its technology to assist financial institutions, corporates, and agribusinesses measure, act, and report on nature, and is ingesting data from over 100 external providers, according to Leape.

By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com

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