The Stream (with Will & Tom)

In this episode of The Stream, Will Sarni and Tom Freyberg sit down with Tom Quigley, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Superorganism, the first venture firm dedicated exclusively to biodiversity-focused startups.It’s a timely conversation. Just this week, Tom and his co-founder Kevin Webb announced Superorganism’s first venture fund, exceeding $25 million, marking a major milestone for nature and biodiversity investing.Before launching Superorganism, Tom spent years working in the field across Australia, Madagascar, and the Cayman Islands, earning a reputation as a coral reef conservationist turned start-up operator and investor. That experience now shapes how Superorganism approaches early-stage investing in nature tech.We explore why biodiversity has lagged climate in venture capital, how that is beginning to change, and how Superorganism plans to deploy capital across three core areas:Industries driving biodiversity lossThe overlap between biodiversity and climateEnabling technologies that unlock new ways to protect and restore natureIt was an honour to speak with Tom about building the fund, the partners, how experience with start-ups will help and the link between biodiversity loss and water.🔔 We hope you enjoy the episode and make sure to follow and subscribe to our channels to get alerts on the episodes. We’re delighted you can join us on this voyage of discovery, as we journey down The Stream.Special thanks to this season's sponsor, Raymond James.And our charity partner, Frank Water.And thanks to our knowledge partners: British Water, WWF, Water Alliance, DCU Water Institute, SurplusWater25, Earth and Environmental Science at Berkeley Lab, Water Foundry and Atlantean Media.

In this episode of The Stream, Will Sarni and Tom Freyberg are joined by Sebastián Goldschmidt, founder of Nilus, to explore an unexpected climate solution: rebuilding ice to secure water.Named by Forbes as one of Chile’s Sustainable Minds, Sebastián is working with high-altitude communities across Latin America to develop artificial ice reservoirs, a nature-based, engineered approach inspired by ancestral techniques from the Ladakh region, often known as the Guardians of the Himalayas. The idea is simple but powerful: store water in solid form during winter, then release it gradually during the dry season when it’s needed most.While much of the climate narrative focuses on melting glaciers and disappearing ice, this conversation looks at what it might mean to regrow ice reserves, and why doing so could play a critical role in water security, ecosystem resilience, and climate adaptation.Sebastián also shares what it takes to scale a nature-based solution at thousands of metres above sea level, and how Nilus is partnering with organisations including Orica Impact Fund and Coca-Cola as part of the 100+ Accelerator programme.This is a thoughtful discussion on water, climate, Indigenous knowledge, and innovation, and a reminder that some of the most effective solutions are rooted in both ancient wisdom and modern engineering.🔔 We hope you enjoy the episode and make sure to follow and subscribe to our channels to get alerts on the episodes. We’re delighted you can join us on this voyage of discovery, as we journey down The Stream.Special thanks to this season's sponsor, Raymond James.And our charity partner, Frank Water.And thanks to our knowledge partners: British Water, WWF, Water Alliance, DCU Water Institute, SurplusWater25, Earth and Environmental Science at Berkeley Lab, Water Foundry and Atlantean Media.

In this episode, we welcomed Nicole Richards, CEO of US firm Allonnia, a company that promises to enzymes and microbes to degrade environmental contaminants.Now the topic of PFAS, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as forever chemicals, is getting a lot of attention.Known for their unbreakable bonds, they’re used in pretty much everything, from non-stick saucepans through to waterproof jackets, and military firefighting foam applications. Following a regulatory limit introduction by the US Environmental Protection Agency, as well as corporate fines to chemical companies responsible for PFAS pollution, there has been almost a space race of start-ups in this space promising destruction techniques.It was great to get Nicole’s perspective because Allonnia is quite unique. It was launched out of Ginkgo Bioworks Ferment Consortium with a $40 million Series A funding round, which was then boosted by another $15 million funding round from DARPA, the Defense Advanced Projects Agency.Now, $55 million for a start-up is ana extremely rare position to be in! Nicole discusses this, as well as making the leap from almost 30 years in chemical engineering over to the start-up world.There’s a lot of discussions on PFAS, the impact on human health, and how technology innovation will help to solve this problem. Nicole comes at it from an interesting perspective of how synthetic biology will play a role.🔔 We hope you enjoy the episode and make sure to follow and subscribe to our channels to get alerts on the episodes. We’re delighted you can join us on this voyage of discovery, as we journey down The Stream.Special thanks to this season's sponsor, Raymond James.And our charity partner, Frank Water.And thanks to our knowledge partners: British Water, WWF, Water Alliance, DCU Water Institute, SurplusWater25, Earth and Environmental Science at Berkeley Lab, Water Foundry and Atlantean Media.

How do you invest $1 billion dollars to accelerate climate and water solutions? 🌍In this episode of The Stream Podcast, we speak with Ida Hempel from Galvanize Climate Solutions, the investment platform co-founded by Katie Hall and Tom Steyer, former hedge fund manager, climate philanthropist, and 2020 U.S. presidential candidate.In September 2023, Galvanize closed its $1B Innovation & Expansion Fund, one of the largest climate venture funds ever raised. Ida takes us inside the fund’s three strategies, from venture & growth to global equities and real estate, and shares how water infrastructure improvements are being integrated into their decarbonisation playbook.We also dive into Ida’s experience at Tesla, where she witnessed pivotal moments in the company’s history, and explore what large-scale climate investment really looks like in practice.If you’re curious about the future of climate finance, water innovation, and scaling sustainability, this episode is for you.🔔 We hope you enjoy the episode and make sure to follow and subscribe to our channels to get alerts on the episodes. We’re delighted you can join us on this voyage of discovery, as we journey down The Stream.Special thanks to this season's sponsor, Raymond James.And our charity partner, Frank Water.And thanks to our knowledge partners: British Water, WWF, Water Alliance, DCU Water Institute, SurplusWater25, Earth and Environmental Science at Berkeley Lab, Water Foundry and Atlantean Media.

How do you plant 12.5 million trees and mobilise over 40,000 local and Indigenous people across six South American countries? 🌎In this episode of The Stream, we sit down with Florent Kaiser, Executive Director of Global Forest Generation and co-founder of Acción Andina, a grassroots movement restoring high Andean forests.A past Earthshot Prize winner and recognised by the UN as one of the World Restoration Flagships, Florent shares:Why the next phase of Acción Andina is called “the path of water.” 💧How restoration ties directly to water stewardship, climate resilience, and community livelihoods.New financial models shifting from corporate to local finance.The role of Indigenous leadership in linking global sustainability ambitions with local action.We first met Florent at London Climate Action Week, and his vision left a lasting impression. Tune in to hear how a movement rooted in local action is reshaping global water and nature restoration.🔔 We hope you enjoy the episode and make sure to follow and subscribe to our channels to get alerts on the episodes. We’re delighted you can join us on this voyage of discovery, as we journey down The Stream.Special thanks to this season's sponsor, Raymond James.And our charity partner, Frank Water.And thanks to our knowledge partners: British Water, WWF, Water Alliance, DCU Water Institute, SurplusWater25, Earth and Environmental Science at Berkeley Lab, Water Foundry and Atlantean Media.