natcap is developing the next generation of decision-useful nature measurement technology with £2.5m in funding

natcap, the nature intelligence company for finance and enterprise, has closed a £2.5m seed round. natcap's investors include the investment companies Oxford Science Enterprises and leading asset manager Schroders.

natcap is developing the next generation of nature intelligence technology to help companies and financial institutions measure the nature-related impacts and dependencies of their operations, portfolios, and supply chains, across factors including hydrology, soils, biodiversity, and carbon. natcap enables customers to disclose relevant information to stakeholders, understand nature risk, develop new nature positive products, and drive change on the ground.

The solution builds on more than four years of research and development by natcap's team of scientists and engineers, and is is aligned with the draft versions of the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosure (TNFD), Science-Based Targets Network (SBTN), Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and other emerging nature-related reporting frameworks and standards.

"Biodiversity and nature are rising up the business agenda this year. natcap's technology will ensure it can be embedded into decision making in a practical yet scientifically rigorous way" says Professor Baroness Kathy Willis, founder of natcap and Professor of Biodiversity and Head of the Long-term Ecology group at the University of Oxford.

natcap's approach is sensitive to an asset's specific location, how it is being managed on the ground, and the specific economic process that is being conducted. The natcap engine provides quantitative measures of dependencies, the supply and demand of ecosystem services, and impacts in terms of the magnitude and significance of assets. This unlocks a wide range of benefits to customers, including the possibility of measurement of change over time and enhanced comparison across assets.

natcap prides itself on scientific rigour having been founded by academics from Oxford University, with the active involvement of several world leading academics from Oxford University, Imperial College and the Swiss Federal Research Institute. natcap is already active with corporates, financial institutions and land owners across the UK, Africa, Australia and Latin America helping them measure, act and report on nature-related issues.