What Nature Markets Need to Scale
The hosts:
Ed Thorne, Sand River
What is this Ripple about?
The clean energy transition didn't happen because of wind farms — it happened because of batteries, turbines and PV cells. Nature markets face the same precursor problem today. This Ripple explores the enabling technologies and market infrastructure that will allow nature-positive markets to scale – drawing on live examples from companies building that foundational layer today.
Why this topic timely or urgent in 2026
Nature markets are at the same inflection point clean energy reached in the early 2010s. Companies are now building supply-chain visibility, biological inputs that outcompete synthetics on pure economics, tradeable nature assets and transition risk tools, giving early investors an asymmetric opportunity. The question is no longer whether nature markets emerge, but which enabling layers mature first, and whether institutional capital follows quickly enough.
Key questions or challenges being explored
What bottlenecks still prevent institutional capital from flowing into nature recovery at scale — and which are founders solving first?
Can regenerative technologies outperform extractive incumbents on economics alone – without subsidy, regulation or consumer guilt?
What does the nature markets stack look like in 2030 if the current wave of enabling companies succeeds — and what is still missing?
The key tension or debate at the heart of this discussion
Who would get the most value from attending this Ripple?
Anyone interested in learning about the state of nature tech, what's trending, what to invest in, what the barriers are, from students, to other VCs to LPs and Founders, and anyone working to steward capital into protecting nature or who writes about this topic. Sand River are experts in this field and have an interesting perspective to share.