Disruptors for GOOD | Social Entrepreneurs and Social Enterprises

In this episode I speak with Eric Archambeau, Co-Founder & Partner, at Astanor Ventures on investing in DeepTech to power the future of nature and regenerative agriculture.

A global food enthusiast and not-for-profit activist, Astanor’s co-founder Eric has been supporting healthy food education and regenerative agriculture training for over a decade. The former Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur turned venture capitalist (App Annie, Betfair, Freenow, Onfido , Spotify, Xing) was Global Chairman of the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation and co-founded Quadia – a Geneva-based impact investing firm that offers private investors and family offices tailored strategies and portfolios that deliver social and environmental impact.

Previously, he lectured at graduate business school INSEAD, where he founded the Social Entrepreneurship Department and was one of the co-founders of Social Impact International, a social entrepreneur accelerator program in India and Hawaii with a focus on sustainable agri-food programs.

Eric’s ambition to revolutionise the food sector led him, with long-time business associate George Coelho, to launch Astanor Ventures in 2017 to invest in disruptive companies creating systemic change in the food and farming sectors while restoring the cultural dimension of food, ultimately inspiring people to cook meals that are sustainable, delicious, nourishing and that build a connection to nature.

About Astanor Ventures

Astanor is an impact investor, delivering financial, social and environmental returns in equal measure. We believe in the future of an agrifood system that provides affordable nutrients for 10 billion people, preserves and regenerates natural resources, actively contributes to decarbonization and protects land and ocean biodiversity.

Astanor is driven by a pressing urgency to combat climate change, biodiversity loss and improve the health of humanity and the planet.

Sustainability and impact were part of the firm’s founding principles and remain an area they are committed to excel in. The mission as impact investors is to find, support and scale the most disruptive, impactful solutions to accelerate progress towards global sustainability targets.

In Episode 150 of the Disruptors for Good podcast, I speak with Gregory Landua, Co-founder and CEO of Regen Network, on the regenerative finance industry and the massive potential to change the way we look at money and environmental assets.

Gregory is co-founder and co-Chief Regeneration Officer of Regen Network. Regen Network is land ecological commons management platform and the backbone for a new approach to ecosystem service markets based on verified ecological state.

Gregory Landua, co-author of the pioneering book, Regenerative Enterprise, the Levels of Regenerative Agriculture Whitepaper, and the Regen Network Whitepaper. He is the co-founder and former CEO of Terra Genesis International.

Terra Genesis International (TGI) is now lead by a dynamic global team of Permaculture and Regenerative Agriculture and Business practitioners and leaders working to support leading companies to transform their negative impact into regenerative effects, and leading cutting edge agro-forestry business planning around the world.

Gregory has studied marine and terrestrial ecology and evolutionary biology in the Galapagos Islands, translated for Amazonian rainforest guides, fought wildfires in the wilderness of Alaska, lived in established ecovillages, founded a successful work-live cooperative, and studied the nuances of ecology and ethics.

Gregory has B.S. in Environmental Science and Ethics from Oregon State University, and a M.Sc in Regenerative Entrepreneurship and Design from Gaia University.

About Regen Network

Regen Network is a full-stack blockchain software development company best known for the deployment of Regen Ledger and the set of tools used for Regen Network.

Regen Network is a community of actors engaging with ecological regeneration, ecological monitoring, verification, distributed computing, and technology development, centered around Regen Ledger. Network members track specific changes in land, oceans, and watersheds.

By improving our understanding of ecosystems and enabling rewards for verified positive changes, Regen Network catalyzes the regeneration of the earth's ecosystems.

Using distributed ledger technology, satellite remote sensing, and Ecological State Protocols, Regen Network monitors on-the-ground conditions and generates trusted attestations about the ecological state.

Regen Network provides an open platform designed specifically to run diverse applications such as Regenerative Carbon Credits, Supply Chain Transparency, Reforestation Monitoring, and investment vehicles such as Ecological Bonds.

There may be nothing of more critical importance than the regeneration of global ecosystems. Regen Network brings together the tools and communities needed to incentivize actions aligned with planetary health.

In Episode 147 of the Disruptors for Good podcast I speak with Derrick Emsley, co-founder of tentree and veritree, on the mission to plant 1 billion trees through a lifestyle brand and building tech to verify global restoration projects.

From a young age, Derrick Emsley has been actively involved with environmental stewardship. At 16, he and his brother founded a tree planting company that sold carbon credits to businesses, a venture that saw over $1 million dollars in contracts, and planted 150,000 trees.

This venture helped pave the way to the founding of tentree in 2012, where Derrick operates as the CEO, guiding the Company's vision and strategy. tentree is a lifestyle brand that plants ten trees for every product sold.

In just under a decade, tentree has set new standards in the sustainable apparel world while also leading to the planting of almost 100 million trees.

In 2021, after identifying a need for more transparency in the global reforestation space, with his team, Derrick launched a technology company - veritree - focused on building and providing the tools to monitor, verify, and audit global reforestation work.

Named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 and Canada's Top 40 Under 40, Derrick's efforts continue to focus around accelerating the adoption of nature-based solutions globally.

About tentree

tentree believes it can inspire a new group of consumers to tackle the environmental issues we are now faced with. By planting ten trees and ensuring that all tentree clothing is produced responsibly they allow each and every customer to make a difference.

Their commitment to the environment isn't just a catchy hook to drive sales. It is something they fundamentally believe in, that will have an enormous impact on our environment going forward. It’s your world, your life, your playground. Let’s protect it – together, we can build forests.

Tree planting is a way of restoring the environment, maintaining ecosystems, and making our world a healthier place to live. This isn’t new; but what is new, is how they have used the concept of planting trees to inspire entrepreneurship, build sustainable communities, provide shelter and generally increase quality of life.

The founders of tentree have years of experience in the tree planting industry and have used this to create a business model that ensures trees are planted sustainably and in a way that will have the greatest impact. Some of the many benefits of planting trees include:

Creating and restoring bio-diversity
- Removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere
- Creating bio-precipitation
- Building sustainable and resilient natural ecosystems

About veritree

Veritree is on a mission to accelerate the adoption of nature-based climate solutions through innovative technology.

Veritree is the only system built specifically to solve the problems of large-scale global restorations groups. Through a comprehensive suite of tools, Veritree utilizes blockchain technology to provide restoration organizations with an integrated platform to support field-level data collection, site planning, inventory (tree) management, and impact monitoring, all while delivering sponsors with a world-class experience.

Restoration projects have historically been very difficult to monitor, measure, and audit. At the same time, the need has never been greater for large-scale restoration projects. Veritree provides the systems to empower the world's best restoration projects to do what they do best - make an impact.

In Episode 149 of the Disruptors for Good podcast, Causeartist contributor Rafael Aldon, speaks with Masami Sato, Founder & CEO of B1G1, on helping businesses of any size make big impacts with a diversity of giving projects.

Masami was born in Japan but her desire to expand her horizons took her on a global journey. She became deeply concerned about the inequalities and other challenges that existed in the world. Since then, she has endeavored to create real WIN-WIN connections across all cultures, people and organizations to realize a different world.

She has been a serial entrepreneur since 2001, starting and running several commercial enterprises all aiming to transform the way businesses are operated today. And by taking a completely new look at the power of giving, she founded B1G1 (Buy1GIVE1) in 2007.

Masami’s approach to life is very different. She brings a new, almost upside-down strategy to everything she does. And she also radiates it through her writing and speaking. She has authored four books including, ‘JOY - The gift of acceptance, trust and love’, ‘GIVING BUSINESS – Creating the maximum impact in the meaning-driven world’ and ‘Better Business, Better Life, Better World’.

Masami’s career has followed her diverse talent and skills having been a teacher, translator, natural food chef (and a farmer!), author and award-winning entrepreneur as well as a mother of two teenage children. She is a two-time TEDx speaker and frequently invited to international events, podcasts and interviews.

About B1G1

B1G1 (Buy1GIVE1) is a global giving movement that helps businesses give back easily in meaningful ways.

Imagine a coffee shop giving life-saving water for every coffee they sell, or an accounting firm educating a child in need for every client they create.

Imagine a world where every transaction gives back and makes a difference.

Since 2007, B1G1 has worked with more than 3,000 businesses from all industries around the world, creating over 270 million giving impacts.

In this episode, I speak with Tom Ferguson, Managing Partner at Burnt Island Ventures, on the future of water investments and water technologies.

Tom brings a decade of experience in water and startups to lead BIV. His start in water came as the lead author on the first CDP Water Disclosure Report in 2010, and he joined Imagine H2O in 2015 to build out the organization’s programming portfolio, which now encompasses 3 global programs vetting 500+ startups per year.

Companies selected under Tom’s tenure have raised $600m+ and achieved 5 exits. He holds an MA from the University of Edinburgh, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

About Burnt Island Ventures

Burnt Island Ventures is not a cleantech fund, because in cleantech water is a $900 billion afterthought. You can’t be good at water unless you only do water. Burnt Island Ventures funds the best entrepreneurs in water, worldwide. That’s it. This is a giant, esoteric, and foundational market for the entire global economy.

We are at a turning point. From the wildfires of the Western US to flooding in Niger, climate change is here. Water resources across the world will be under increasing stress as the world warms. Products and services that allow individuals, governments and companies to navigate this change will see more and more demand.

Entrepreneurs are emerging with the skill and insight to meet that demand, developing solutions to water problems at scale. Burnt Island Ventures exists to find, fund and support the best of these founders.