Sponsors and Partners of the CFA Incubator:
The Conservation Finance Alliance Incubator seeks to identify, support and promote innovative ideas and solutions to conservation finance challenges that have significant positive conservation impacts. Innovation is essential to identify and develop conservation finance solutions and is especially urgent given the emerging Global Biodiversity Framework and 30x30 ambitions.
Congratulations to the Finalists of the CFA Incubator, Round 2!
The Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) is excited to announce the seven finalists accepted into the second cohort of the CFA Incubator! After a competitive open call for proposals, 73 impactful conservation finance concepts were received. The CFA Incubator’s Technical Review Committee reviewed all proposals and chose seven projects for the CFA Incubator Round 2 cohort. Five of the seven proponents will also receive a grant of USD 20,000 to support their initiatives. The cohort will run over nine months during 2022 and various public presentations will be made as the projects progress. Incubated projects and companies receive mentorship from the CFA Incubator co-leads, Dr. David Meyers and Ben Guillon, as well as mentorship and targeted expertise from CFA members and partners. This round of Incubation is financially supported by the MAVA Foundation with technical support from our partners.
Incubation and Financial Support
· Blue Recovery Bond - Planet Tracker – Reversing financial incentives for overfishing.
· Microfinance for Community Conservation - WWF and Kiva – collaborating to bring microfinance to conservation enterprises in the Amazon and beyond.
· Mwenzi Capital - Conservation Capital – Blended finance mechanism for sharing profits in nature-based enterprises in Africa.
· Ocean Eye – Tourism platform facilitating micro payments to coastal communities based on wildlife sightings.
· Ng’wala Inventions – Designing and operating digital solar-powered organic pesticide and fertilizer dispensing machines for rural farmers in Africa.
Incubation
· Decentralized Finance “DeFi” Registries in Water Quality Markets - Ecomarket Services, AQAIX, and i2 Capital - transforming water quality markets using blockchain technology.
· Nature 4 Climate Fund - Natural Strategies Investments - Bridging commercial interests and long-term sustainable solutions by effectively connecting capital with conservation.
Image: Matt Curnock
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Previous Winners
2020-2021 Cohort
The first round of the Conservation Finance Alliance Incubator ran from Spring 2020 to Spring 2021.
Five (5) projects were selected to receive mentoring and grant funding of 25,000 USD each. Funding was provided by MAVA.
An additional ten (10) projects received mentoring only, for a total of fifteen (15) projects.
Projects presented their work to the CFA and potential investors at the end of their mentoring process.
Read about the selected projects and watch the presentations here.
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Mentors and Partners
The CFA Incubator builds its mentorship roster from the CFA’s Innovation Working Group. If you are interested in becoming a mentor for selected projects or partner with the CFA Incubator, please send a CV or contact email to Incubator@CFAlliance.org.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
