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The NatureBacked Podcast — Business
The NatureBacked Podcast

Are you looking to understand the business of a better future? Welcome to NatureBacked. For three years and through more than 125 episodes, we’ve been on a mission to uncover how investors and entrepreneurs worldwide tackle climate change, from the complexities of emissions to the devastating reality of floods. We explore the personal choices and inspiring journeys driving this critical work. Join us to hear from the experts, innovators, and changemakers who are not just talking about change but actively creating it. As a top-three U.S. investment podcast and in the top 2.5% of all podcasts globally, NatureBacked offers the insights you need to navigate the evolving landscape of a sustainable world.NatureBacked was founded by Tarmo Virki, a passionate environmentalist who believes that nature has the solutions to many of the challenges we face today. In each episode, Tarmo or co-host Fiona Alston interviews a guest who shares their knowledge, experience, and vision on a specific topic related to nature and sustainability. We would love to hear from you, so feel free to email us at tarmo@naturebacked.com with your feedback, questions, or suggestions. Thank you for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show!Stay curious and stay green 💚

Copyright: © 2022 The NatureBacked Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Looking Into Promising Year With Practica's Helery Pops Feb 05, 2024

Show notes

The year 2024 looks promising for both, startups and investors, says investor Helery Pops from Practica Capital, a pan-Baltic investment firm which has backed several green tech startups in the region.

"It's going to need a lot of work, it's going to need a lot of effort because money isn't that easy to come by at the moment, investors are doing much more due diligence: it might take up to six months or a year to raise a round. But if all the chips fall into places, then you have less competition," says investor Helery Pops.

Practica Capital launched a new 80-million-euro fund in January 2024.

Helery shares her insights on the startup landscape in the Baltics, her passion for nature, and some of the challenges and opportunities for green tech investors and founders in 2024.

You'll learn about topics such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, circular economy, and more. You'll also hear about some of the successful and promising green tech startups in Practica's portfolio, such as PVcase, a grading software for wind turbines, and Heavy Finance, a platform that helps farmers switch to no-till farming with zero-interest loans.

Whether you're a green tech enthusiast, a startup founder, or a curious listener, this episode will inspire you with fresh insights and practical tips on how to make a positive impact with green tech.

Don't forget to subscribe to NatureBacked and leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and visit our website for more content and resources. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for the next episode of NatureBacked.

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How To Fix Carbon Markets, With Kenny Kaluiji Jan 29, 2024

Show notes

Kenny Kaluiji, a seasoned professional in the realm of carbon markets and climate equity, gave NatureBacked listeners a deepdive into the state of the carbon markets.

We spoke about:

how to fix carbon markets
emerging market for biodiversity credits
trust challenge of carbon markets
how local communities should benefit credit markets

After completing his Master Degree in Energy, Environment and Society to combat climate impacts affecting countries in Africa., Kenny Founded Decarbonify, a startup that spearheads the development of a data-driven ESG Data software, contributing significantly to climate crisis management, and providing climate risk data mapping.

His current advisory role at Carbon Futures EU involves navigating businesses through the complex carbon market landscape, bringing market compliance, truth and transparency.

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Cleaning Soils With Novobiom's Fungi Dec 19, 2023

Show notes

Novobiom, the winner of the Future is Fungi Startup Award, is cleaning contaminated soils using fungi, and is raising funding to build fungal fermentation pilot during 2024.

"We aim by using fungi is to turn bulk waste into high value applications using a fungal micro refinery," Novobiom co-founder Caroline Zaoui said in the NatureBacked podcast.

"The big milestone is going to be the buildup of our fungal fermentation pilot for the micro refinery angle that we are working on to demonstrate that we can process a certain volume of waste to generate compounds of high added value, and demonstrate that we can bring a solution for the end of waste in the textile industry," Zaoui said, adding that the company was also aiming to make use of any waste stream to produce biobased and circular molecules for the cosmetics industry.

Novobiom's main product is a soil mycoremediation solution, which uses mushrooms to degrade and detoxify pollutants in the soil. Novobiom says that this solution is more ecological, efficient, and economical than conventional soil treatments.

Novobiom's mission is to contribute to solving current environmental and societal challenges by developing bio-inspired restorative innovations. Novobiom was founded in 2017 and is based in Belgium.

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Making Batteries From Fungi With Jens Sørensen Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

Jens Laurids Sørensen from Aalborg University, the winner of the Future is Fungi Research Award, introduced the winning project to create the world's first biosynthesized battery.

Sørensen said: "Our battery is based on pigments from fungi. So it's the world's first biosynthesized-battery. It is much better than the solutions right now, which are based on mining different metal ions or chemical synthesis based on compounds or chemicals from the oil industry."

He said it will likely take around five years for the project to grow from a laboratory setting to the real world, but with vast funding, this could be accelerated significantly.

"To also honour the research, we wanted to have the award for uncovering this. We wanted to thoroughly uncover the new-frontier ways we can use fungi for elemental solutions. We want to inspire more research and innovation in this space, and also to commercialise more of this research, get this research off the ground," said Susanne Gløersen, the organiser of the award.

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Delving Into B Corp Trend with Sarah Garcia Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

Near 8,000 companies globally have certified themselves as B Corporations, where B stands for "benefit for all", with even major corporations and publicly listed entities putting all stakeholders on par with investors.

"It's still very much an SME-led movement. However, I think more or less since 2015, we've seen a lot of momentum and interest in large companies and multinationals joining the movement," Sarah Garcia, head of market development at B Lab Europe, said in the NatureBacked podcast.

"The movement started back in 2006 when our founders were becoming increasingly disillusioned by seeing purpose-driven companies change drastically after they either changed ownership after they went public or the direction of the CEO or the priorities of the CEO change," she said..

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When Green Is Not Enough: Talking About Blue Economy With Gunter Pauli Nov 21, 2023

Show notes

We met Gunter Pauli on the sidelines of Tallinn Greentech Week to talk about the Blue Economy.

Here are the main points of the discussion:

The blue economy concept and its potential to replace the green economy

Pauli is frustrated with the green economy and argues it's too expensive and incompatible with market demands.
the limitations of economies of scale in the global market, arguing that consumers prefer unique and diverse products.
the potential for waste from coffee production to be used for mushroom farming, with 6000 initiatives around the world already adopting this approach.

Blue economy, local materials, and sustainable business models (from 4:51)

the rise of the "blue economy," where companies prioritize local and sustainable practices, citing Novamount as a successful example.
the importance of collaboration and resilience in the blue economy, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
the potential of using weeds as a source of bioplastics, highlighting the benefits of vertical integration and the ability to generate more value through the use of local materials.
how the business model can change by using an old stranded petrochemical facility, reducing costs and increasing the lifespan of the acid, making the product competitive in the market.

Sustainable paper production and water conservation (from 9:39)

the importance of recognizing and utilizing available resources, using the example of stone paper production.
the potential of using waste products from forestry companies to create a sustainable business, drawing on the example of mushroom cultivation.
the potential of using mining waste to produce paper, generating significant value and reducing water and land use.

Sustainable business practices and education (from 15:23)

the importance of working with the next generation to implement sustainable practices and reduce environmental impact.
the importance of keeping a childlike curiosity and exploration in adults, as it can lead to innovation and progress.
the potential of children to drive positive change, citing examples of initiatives in Estonia and China that involve translating fables into stone and bringing them to schools.

Sustainable transportation and energy solutions (from 20:14)

visiting local companies that are making a positive impact in their field, specifically a mushroom company that is doing extraordinary work.
abolishing the use of Excel sheets
proposal to transform ferry transport in the Baltic by prioritizing local transportation and goods, reducing carbon footprint.
the importance of extracting oneself from limitations and constraints, using examples of their entrepreneurial ventures.

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Making Sustainability Leap In Food Chain with Enifer's Simo Ellilä Nov 14, 2023

Show notes

Finnish biotech startup Enifer has injected new life into an old innovation of Finnish forestry engineers, revitalising the production of mycoproteins from paper industry by-products.

They have found strong demand from the pet food sector as in the 1970s and 1980s the product was sold to farmers for their animals, and are now looking also for ways to enter the higher-value-added human food market.

"Volumes of protein going into agriculture and pet food are huge. The companies are really looking for alternatives that are more sustainable. But, in general, they just need more, new sources of protein, because those sectors are growing fast and protein production is not really keeping up," co-founder Simo Ellilä said.

In October, researchers at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) published a study showing that farmed fish grow better and healthier with Enifer's PEKILO mycoprotein than with soybeans.

Enifer’s proprietary technology can upcycle by-products from diverse agri-, food- and forest industry processes into its PEKILO mycoprotein, which consists of about 65% protein, 15% beta-glucan, 10% fats and minerals, and has a high concentration of vitamin B.

Enifer plans to announce the location of its first factory before Christmas.

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Diamonds Are For Everyone: Changing Diamond Industry with Adamas One's Jay Grdina Nov 07, 2023

Show notes

Adamas One, one of the pioneers in the lab-grown diamond business, is expanding production and pushing not-mined diamonds in new sectors, said founder and CEO Jay Grdina.

"Three goals and tasks: factory running at full production, complete the build-out of our new factory; semiconductors technology sector - really going to charge and take the lead on that; as well as get our jewellery line out there and launch stuff," Grdina said.

The company owns the original 32 manufacturing patents for lab-grown diamonds, a sector which has taken a massive chunk of the North American diamond market over the last few years, and which is set to be increasingly important for the global semiconductor industry.

The diamond mining industry is known for environmental and social problems. In some countries proceeds from diamond sales have been used to finance wars, creating a 'blood diamond' name. One of the latest environmental (and social) disasters occurred in the diamond mining town of Jagersfontein in South Africa last fall.

"People that traditionally might not have gone and bought a mined diamond, whether it's eco reasons or social reasons, or other reasons. We give them an alternative, where they can avoid those atrocities or mindset issues that they have, and come over and buy an environmentally conscientious diamond," Grdina said.

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Helping Cities Solve Climate Challenge Oct 31, 2023

Show notes

Kausal, which provides local governments with a software platform for tracking and implementing sustainability measures targets German-speaking markets and North America with fresh seed funding of 880,000 euros from an investor consortium including Innovestor and Spanish impact fund Zubi Capital.

"For us, the biggest milestone is to show that this is really scalable on different markets and not sustained in Finland, for instance," co-founder Sonja-Maria Ignatius said in the NatureBacked podcast.

Ignatius, an ex-Helsinki climate specialist, and her co-founders set up the company to make sure Helsinki keeps its promises to become carbon neutral. Once the service was launched, other cities followed. Kausal currently works with over 40 cities, including San Diego and Zurich.

The focus is set clearly on the public sector, even though the platform could be adapted for corporate use.

"It was a very natural step as all the founders had experience within the public sector," Ignatius said.

"It's true that the sale cycles can be long sometimes. But on the other hand, city governments are very reliable, they pay their bills. Also, once you have gotten in, and you have this in their budget, they are not going to be every year like, Hey, do we want this or not, but they are also very sticky as customers," she said.

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How Nature Can Guide us to Build Sustainable and Innovative Businesses Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

In a wide-ranging discussion with Simona Simulyte on the sidelines of the Impact Day festival in Tallinn we talked about:

How she took over her father's car component business at the age of 12 and launched environmentally friendly springs for breaks
Early days of startup entrepreneurship in Lithuania, emphasizing the importance of diversity and impact
How she launched the ChangemakersON network, a community for tech for good products, by leveraging traditional business experience and partnerships
Her work in startups and sustainability highlights the importance of doing things for the right reasons rather than just for appearance or marketing
ESG reporting helps expose greenwashing by measuring and documenting criteria, but companies need to be transparent and set clear agreements.
regenerative organizations and decentralized business models
the importance of listening to intuition and following nature's lead in business. Despite trying to copy nature, we've already made copies of nature before and are now returning to sustainable innovation.
How small businesses should adopt a life-centric business model, prioritizing uniqueness and cooperation over competition.

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