Press Release | £40million for Nature
Nattergal welcomes Aviva as shareholder during one of the sector’s largest seed funding rounds
Nattergal has now raised £40m of equity in one of the sector’s largest seed funding rounds.
Aviva is now one of Nattergal’s key institutional investors, with Aviva's Group Sustainability Director Claudine Blamey joining the Board.
Nattergal and Aviva will work together to leverage private finance to tackle the UK’s Nature crisis and deliver benefits to local communities.
United Kingdom: 16 October 2024
Nature restoration company Nattergal has now successfully completed its seed round, raising £40m ($52.2m) of equity funding in total, led by Lansdowne Partners, a co-founder of Nattergal. This is one of the largest seed equity raises in the Nature restoration sector and marks a significant milestone in Nattergal’s scaling up of its operations.
Private finance will play a vital role in restoring Nature, which in turn helps to mitigate climate change, bolster food security, combat water scarcity, and improve mental and physical health. As one of the most Nature-depleted countries in the world, the UK could see a 12% drop in GDP unless urgent action is taken to address Nature-related financial risks. There is significant opportunity to demonstrate leadership on a corporate and global scale, in line with initiatives such as the 30% by 2030 UK Nature protection commitments and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
As part of this expansion of Nattergal’s shareholder register, Aviva has joined as a key institutional investor. Aviva’s investment comes via its corporate venture capital fund, Aviva Ventures, which is focused on delivering returns through investments linked to innovative solutions. It builds on Aviva’s commitment to restore Nature and biodiversity as part of their sustainability ambition.
Aviva's Chief Sustainability Officer Claudine Blamey also joins the Nattergal Board, as a Board Advisor, bringing with her considerable experience and strategic guidance.
“Investing in Nattergal supports an important element of Aviva’s sustainability ambition, to protect and restore biodiversity through Nature-based solutions. I’m delighted to be appointed to the Nattergal Board and I’m looking forward to contributing to their gold-standard approach to delivering Nature restoration at scale.”
Archie Struthers, CEO of Nattergal, adds: “Our ambition to deliver Nature restoration at scale is only possible with the support of leading institutional investors such as Aviva. This strong support we have received in our equity raise is testament to our business model, and a clear signal that Nattergal is playing a leading role in making Nature an investable asset class. We’re excited to work alongside Aviva and all our shareholders in our next phase of growth.”
Alongside Lansdowne Partners and Aviva, Nattergal has attracted a number of pioneering institutional, venture and angel investors as shareholders, who are all actively backing Nattergal’s commercial vision for tackling the biodiversity crisis.
The seed funding round has enabled Nattergal to acquire three sites, including the newest, Harold’s Park Wildland, in Essex, in June 2024. These sites are enabling Nattergal to evidence its restoration competence and the blended finance models that underpin its commercial proposition. Nature restoration work has already begun at Harold’s Park Wildland, which will be funded in part by the sale of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units to the property sector as well as delivering a range of benefits for the local community, including employment opportunities and enhanced access to Nature.
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Press Contact
Katie Davies, Seahorse Environmental: kdavies@seahorseenvironmental.co.uk, 07919525188
Notes to Editors
About Nattergal
Nattergal was established to become a world-leading Nature restoration company and provide vital benefits for society and sustainable financial returns. We will buy, lease, or manage large areas of ecologically degraded land and seascapes across the UK & Europe to recover biodiversity and bring about functioning natural processes. This restoration of degraded ecosystems creates natural capital including carbon capture, biodiversity, and nutrients. Our purpose is to make Nature an investible asset class, and to mobilise the private sector into action.
Alongside Harold’s Park Wildland, Nattergal owns and operates Boothby Wildland, Lincolnshire, and High Fen Wildland, Norfolk. The company aims to have 20-30 sites globally within five years.
Further information about Nattergal can be found at https://www.nattergal.co.uk/.
About Aviva
We are the UK's leading diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China.
We help our 19.5 million (as at 30 June 2024) customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right.
We have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with our purpose of being ‘with you today, for a better tomorrow’. In 2023, we paid £25.6 billion in claims and benefits to our customers.
In 2021, we announced our ambition to become Net Zero by 2040, the first major insurance company in the world to do so. We are aiming to have Net Zero carbon emissions from Aviva’s operations and supply chain by 2030. While we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we recognise that while we have control over Aviva’s operations and influence on our supply chain, when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, Aviva is one part of a far larger global ecosystem. There are also limits to our ability to influence other organisations and governments. Nevertheless, we remain focused on the task and are committed to playing our part in the collective effort to enable the global transition. Find out more about our climate goals at www.aviva.com/climate-goals and our sustainability ambition and action at www.aviva.com/sustainability
For more details on what we do, our business and how we help our customers, visit www.aviva.com/about-us