Our guest this week was Kevin Halsey, co-founder of the Ecosystem Intelligence Platform and Senior Ecosystem Services Analyst at EcoMetrix Solutions. He joined NTC Now from Montana outside Glacier National Park — a spectacular region of glaciers, alpine meadows, and carved valleys.

Financial technology, best known as fintech, leverages the power of technology to increase access to financial services, provide faster and more transparent transactions, and finance sectors and areas that the market has previously ignored. One of these areas — nature–has been marked by negative externalities, inefficiency in capital allocation, unequal access, and an absence of data and information. Nature fintech aims to resolve these market failures and create a world where finance, nature, and technology are symbiotic.

Our guest this week was Drea Burbank, CEO and co-founder of Savimbo, who joined NTC Now from the Columbian Amazon, a biodiversity hotspot with rare species including bush dog, jaguar, and harpy eagle. Outside her office is a pristine primary forest which hasn’t been disturbed for over 5000 years.

Our guest this week was Karen Sheffield who joined NTC Now from California and is the founder of Pachamama Ventures, a name which means mother earth in quechua, the ancient language of the Incas, and also a name that resonated with her identity as a Peruvian woman.

Our guest this week was Lucy Almond who joined NTC Now from the village of Hampshire in the UK (together with Rhubarb =) Lucy is chair of Nature4Climate, a coalition of organizations across the environmental sector all dedicated to helping raise the profile of nature as a solution for a more sustainable, equitable and nature-positive future.

Our guest this week was Kevin Webb, who joined NTC Now from New York City and is co-founder and managing director of Superorganism, the first venture firm dedicated to biodiversity challenges.

Our guest this week was Kat Bruce, founder of Nature Metrics and scientist turned entrepreneur who is passionate about the interface between science, business, and policy — the intersection of these sectors is something we’re incredibly excited about. Kat’s company is bringing to market novel molecular tools for biodiversity assessment to accelerate evidence based decision making, improve environmental management, increasing the speed of monitoring efforts and reduce costs.