A Germany-based startup company has raised €1.7 million in early stage funding, hoping to capitalise on a growing list of voluntary and mandatory requirements for corporates to address biodiversity loss and impact.

Nala Earth announced its €1.7 mln pre-seed fundraise on Wednesday. The company said it is aiming to develop a single platform that it says will support companies to meet target-setting, voluntary corporate disclosures, and EU reporting requirements.

“Nature will have a seat at the negotiation table for every good company going forward. Reliable measurement and management of impact are essential for this. What we cannot measure, we cannot manage,” said Nick Zumbuehl, CEO of Nala Earth, in a statement.

Swedish climate tech fund Pale Blue Dot and the Swiss venture capital firm Wingman Ventures lead the list of backers.

International angel investors such as Kentaro Kawamori, founder of the carbon accounting platform Persefoni, Lea-Sophie Cramer, founder of Amorelie and 10morein, and Daniel Mahler, an EVP at Estee Lauder NY, are participating in the round. Nala said that baby food manufacturer Hipp is already collaborating with the early-stage company.

The company said it’s building “a comprehensive global nature database” using scientifically verified data from over 50 sources and analysing satellite data using “proprietary AI models”.

Nala said corporates will use their platform to identify the most relevant nature metrics for their businesses and supply chains.

However, the level of detail on required nature-related metrics has been somewhat opaque in early versions of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Biodiversity is seemingly becoming a venture opportunity with investors and startups alike stepping into the space.

Earlier this year, a venture capital firm launched to solely fund high-growth potential biodiversity-related companies.

Long-standing technological and data providers are also targeting new corporate requirements. For example, established environmental DNA company NatureMetrics released its TNFD-focused platform last month.

There remain significant challenges with data availability for corporations looking to conduct reporting and disclosure activities.

The TNFD had previously called for a global nature data facility to aid companies in their assessment approach.

By Tom Woolnough – tom@carbon-pulse.com

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