Venture Kick invests CHF 150,000 in Inverto to make wetland restoration profitable
31.07.2023
Inverto aims to restore and conserve coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests by making it profitable for local groups through innovative restoration and monitoring technologies. Using innovative UAV based systems to scale up the work of local restoration groups and collect high integrity carbon and biodiversity data, Inverto helps unlock meaningful nature positive impact on a specific parcel basis.
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Wetlands and mangrove forests are not only some of the earth’s most critical ecosystems, but are carbon sequestration superstars, capable of sequestering 4 to 10 times the CO2 of terrestrial forests at rates 400% faster. This makes them particularly efficient options as a nature-based solution for carbon capture, as well as addressing the exploding demand for blue carbon and companies looking for climate and biodiversity contributions. Current estimates suggest that there are approximately 20 million hectares of degraded wetlands in need of restoration globally. The traditional approaches to wetland restoration face difficulties in addressing this opportunity however, as with existing tools the process is labor intensive and slow, and the lack of high integrity data is often a barrier to financing.
Inverto connects wetland restoration to corporate funding through high-integrity data. Through a subscription-based model, corporates and private individuals can subscribe to the restoration and conservation of specific 3x3 meter parcels of wetlands, receiving high-resolution and meaningful data on climate, biodiversity, and social impacts. Local restoration groups are provided with funding and tools to collect the data necessary for such projects to fit within corporate sustainability plans while ensuring long-term project sustainability. Using remote sensing and existing UAVs combined with Inverto’s customized restoration payloads, Inverto helps in directing the ecological restoration and measuring the effectiveness with carbon and accurate biodiversity data. The monitoring provides data streams that are disaggregated and delivered directly to sponsors, using Inverto’s systems to measure not just carbon and floral biodiversity but also to collect samples from the environment for environmental DNA analysis to form a complete picture of the ecosystem.
The team composed of CEO Dr. Jürg Germann, Ph.D. in soft robotics from EPFL, and CTO Cameron Dowd, MSc Mechanical Engineering EPFL, has developed a system that can precisely release mangrove seeds from drones, reducing planting costs and speeding up the process. Using innovative methods for data collection, their approach also uses an intelligent site selection approach to pinpoint planting locations to maximize yield.
The market for nature-positive activities was worth around USD 20.8 billion in 2019, and 84% of consumers are already demanding that corporates take a stand on biodiversity targets. The demand for scalable nature positive impact from corporates is growing rapidly but is held back by concerns over greenwashing and the availability of high-quality data and metrics. This lack of data is precisely what is addressed by Inverto’s solution.
Inverto plans to use the next stage of Venture Kick financing to prepare for a soft launch of their subscription platform, and further test and improve their monitoring and restoration technologies through key partnerships with restoration groups. www.inverto.tech
“Venture Kick is the quality stamp for any Swiss startup. Investors, partners, or even clients know this, hence the number of doors this opens is invaluable. We are really excited that the program is strongly supporting us in making wetland restoration and in general nature positivity a little bit more of reality,” says Inverto’s CEO and Co-founder Dr.Jürg Germann.
Inverto's co-founders, on the left, CTO Cameron Dowd, MSc Mechanical Engineering EPFL, and CEO Dr. Jürg Germann, Ph.D. in soft robotics from EPFL
Inverto connects wetland restoration to corporate funding through high-integrity data. Through a subscription-based model, corporates and private individuals can subscribe to the restoration and conservation of specific 3x3 meter parcels of wetlands, receiving high-resolution and meaningful data on climate, biodiversity, and social impacts. Local restoration groups are provided with funding and tools to collect the data necessary for such projects to fit within corporate sustainability plans while ensuring long-term project sustainability. Using remote sensing and existing UAVs combined with Inverto’s customized restoration payloads, Inverto helps in directing the ecological restoration and measuring the effectiveness with carbon and accurate biodiversity data. The monitoring provides data streams that are disaggregated and delivered directly to sponsors, using Inverto’s systems to measure not just carbon and floral biodiversity but also to collect samples from the environment for environmental DNA analysis to form a complete picture of the ecosystem.
The team composed of CEO Dr. Jürg Germann, Ph.D. in soft robotics from EPFL, and CTO Cameron Dowd, MSc Mechanical Engineering EPFL, has developed a system that can precisely release mangrove seeds from drones, reducing planting costs and speeding up the process. Using innovative methods for data collection, their approach also uses an intelligent site selection approach to pinpoint planting locations to maximize yield.
The market for nature-positive activities was worth around USD 20.8 billion in 2019, and 84% of consumers are already demanding that corporates take a stand on biodiversity targets. The demand for scalable nature positive impact from corporates is growing rapidly but is held back by concerns over greenwashing and the availability of high-quality data and metrics. This lack of data is precisely what is addressed by Inverto’s solution.
Inverto plans to use the next stage of Venture Kick financing to prepare for a soft launch of their subscription platform, and further test and improve their monitoring and restoration technologies through key partnerships with restoration groups. www.inverto.tech
“Venture Kick is the quality stamp for any Swiss startup. Investors, partners, or even clients know this, hence the number of doors this opens is invaluable. We are really excited that the program is strongly supporting us in making wetland restoration and in general nature positivity a little bit more of reality,” says Inverto’s CEO and Co-founder Dr.Jürg Germann.
Inverto's co-founders, on the left, CTO Cameron Dowd, MSc Mechanical Engineering EPFL, and CEO Dr. Jürg Germann, Ph.D. in soft robotics from EPFL