Superorganism launched in 2023 as what it claims to be the first venture capital firm focused on biodiversity, aiming to be a conservationist at the closing table for nature-friendly startups.
Now, the firm has closed its first funding, securing $25.9 million in capital commitments from the Cisco Foundation, AMB Holdings, and Builders Vision, among others, along with individuals like Jeff Jordan, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz.
Superorganism supports companies in three categories: technologies that reduce or reverse extinctions, startups operating at the intersection of climate and biodiversity, and tools that allow conservationists to do their work more effectively.
The company writes checks ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 to pre-seed and seed-stage companies and donates 10% of profits to future conservation efforts.
“You can think of us as a climate technology fund, but instead of thinking about, where we can emit less carbon dioxide or avoid emissions in the first place, we do the same thing for natural loss,” said Kevin Webb, managing director of Superorganism, TechCrunch.
Spoor’s Superorganism portfolio company represents the type of startup really looking for a return. The company’s software uses computer vision to track bird movements and migration patterns, reducing damage from wind turbines to local bird populations. This benefits biodiversity and wind farm developers, who face strict regulations on their impact on birds – regulations that can delay construction or even shut down projects.
Webb and co-founder and managing director Tom Quigley, described the introduction as “kismet” for TechCrunch returns in 2023. Webb has started making hard investments focused on biodiversity to see if it could be viable as a venture capital fund strategy. As he did this, he reached out to Quigley because he was impressed by his background. The two started talking and eventually started working for the company in 2022.
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The political climate around nature and climate protection in general has changed a lot – at least in the US – since the couple started working on it a few years ago. But that didn’t stop the company from reaching its $25 million goal.
Quigley said some potential LPs needed guidance to understand why Superorganism is different from the climate fund, but that becomes clearer when looking at the firm’s portfolio, he said. Our portfolio companies belong to different categories and attract different types of investors and customers.
“We are purposely building a portfolio of color,” Quigly said. “This allows us to show what the best biodiversity companies are in all industries, in all types of technology. We think that there is a showcase portfolio for the fund – which is really strong, and a stable portfolio that is not too (affected) by different winds in different industries or different government policies at the moment.”
Many of these biodiversity issues extend beyond partisan battles over climate change, he said. Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis recently gave a shout out reverseone of Superorganism’s portfolio companies turning invasive species into leather goodsto help solve the python problem in the Everglades, he added.
So far, the company has invested in 20 companies and plans a portfolio size of around 35 companies for this fund.
“We recognize that we are the first and need to be there so that we can bring others where they may be interested in taking the first bet on biodiversity, helping them find and support the right things that can move the needle,” Quigley said.