Nature positive entrepreneurs pitch for massive investment sums at Middlesex University event

The SME Nature Positive Finance team invited the start-up businesses to pitch to investors

Entrepreneurs pitched their nature positive business ideas to attract massive sums of investment ranging from several hundred thousand pounds to more than a million pounds at Middlesex University recently. The Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Nature Positive Finance project team invited the start-up businesses to pitch to investors at the Hendon campus in North London. 

This project, led by MDX and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council’s Integrated Finance and Biodiversity programme, highlights key UK sectors where SMEs are driving solutions to measure and assess nature-positive business activities. The event was supported by MDX’s Centre for Enterprise, Environment and Development Research (CEEDR) and its GreenFin Research Cluster.

Start-up businesses pitching to investors included sustainable fashion company StitchedByZan, Flora Wind and Air Innovation Robotics which produce wind turbines, global food sustainability system Intelli Digest, Carbon negative rum company Two Drifters Distillery and Tellus Conservation which develops and manages nature positive projects. These fast-growing companies will inevitably need investment and advice from experienced investors to support their business expansion sustainably.

Event host Finlay Kerr, the Founder and Principal Advisor at Raising Expert, who works with early-stage businesses seeking investment and has 12 years of experience in the industry, said: “It has been a high-quality event with some really exciting nature and planet positive solutions which are also attractive to investors. The entrepreneurs have travelled from the length and breadth of the UK to be here.”

Robyn Owen, a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Finance at CEEDR, said: “This has really been a large pitching event, probably the first of its kind in the UK for solely nature positive investment, with investors seeking everything from 250k to more than one million pounds. Middlesex University is delighted to have been able to facilitate this pitching event and help drive forward nature positive investment.”

Douglas Ross, owner of Air Innovation Robotics, said: “It was joyous to be here with other entrepreneurs who are trying to solve problems with the environment and promote nature positive business. A lot of these problems are very complex so the challenge was really to explain to investors with a simple message how our products and services can provide a solution.”

Senamile Sishi, of StitchedByZan which produces clothing from hemp, said it had been an “amazing experience” to hear from the other investors and a “great opportunity for collaboration”.

In addition, the start-up businesses have benefited from a tried and tested coaching programme and access to green finance research from Middlesex University and their toolkit which helps SMEs boost and showcase their green or ecological credentials. The event forged links with UK and overseas investors and further pitching events are planned by the MDX team for London and other regional high profile venues.

Find out more about the SME Nature Positive Finance Project.