Degradation of ecosystems is the biggest challenge – and opportunity for the global economy. The Landbanking Group is dedicated to fundamentally transform the way nature is recognized – from open-ended resource to critical infrastructure for companies, economies and societies.
“If nature is critical infrastructure”, says co-founder Dr. Sonja Stuchtey “we must invest into its maintenance and improvement. Our company was founded in response to that challenge: We enable asset-grade investments into nature outcomes.”
The platform links earth observation, digital in-situ data, machine learning and decentralised ledger technology to assess every track of the planet and give it a “natural capital account”. That account serves as an underlying for the issuance of so-called nature equity contracts. These contracts qualify as balance-sheet grade assets and are attractive for agri-food, energy, resource or infrastructure companies, and also increasingly for insurance providers and financial institutions.
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The Landbanking Group has now completed a capital increase of USD 11 million. The seed round was led by High Impact Fund BonVenture together with André Hoffmann, a thought leader of the natural capital movement. Venture capital funds 4P Capital, Vanagon and Planet A will contribute their expertise in marketing, ReFi and impact measurement. In addition, the SUN Institute of the Deutsche Post Foundation and ten individuals and families such as Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein, Alexa Firmenich, Jan-Hendrik Goldbeck and Fabian Strüngmann, are supporting the company’s development.
“As a High Impact Investment Fund we consider nature and biodiversity as critical for our common future. The Landbanking Group has developed a market-innovating platform to monitor nature in a trusted and transparent way. Through our investment we want to be part of this exciting journey from the beginning.”, says Dr. Erwin Stahl, Managing Partner at BonVenture.
The financing will allow the company to expand its customer base in the agrifood sector and to address new markets in infrastructure, energy and financial services. And it will allow Landler to extend the range of monitoring models to more biomes and ecosystem service categories. Importantly, it allows a further expansion from managed land (agriculture and urban land) to conservation.
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“In the 21st Century, natural capital is wealth. We need to shift from a compensation to an asset market view on nature”, says co-founder Martin R. Stuchtey. “Our solution is the attempt to provide the scientific, technological and legal infrastructure for trusted investments into nature outcomes.”
Since its start in 2022, the company has grown rapidly. It now has an international team of 40 experts in ecology, ecosystem-modelling, data science, AI, engineering, financial engineering, and business building. It has entered into multiple partnerships e.g., with the Capitals Coalition, Nature Finance, Cool Farm Alliance or ETH Zurich Seed/Crowther Lab.
The company is the result of a life-long dedication to the concept of natural capital. Martin Stuchtey is a geologist, economist and university professor at Innsbruck University. He worked at McKinsey for 20 years where he co-founded and led the global sustainability practice before he started the system change company SYSTEMIQ. He outlined his natural capital vision in the book “A Good Disruption – redefining Growth in the 21st Century”. Dr. Sonja Stuchtey is board member of the Capitals Coalition. She is founder of the education platform Science-Lab and pro-democracy platform Alliance for Europe and the author of multiple books. They were joined by agronomist and Soil & More founder Tobias Bandel, investment banker Christopher Schütz, ecosystem modelling specialist Dr. Benjamin Leutner and engineer Tanvi Bhardwaj.
