The Canopy Pool: An introductory Q&A with Tommy Gmeiner about investing in nature’s future

At Brainforest we created the Canopy Pool: a curated investment platform designed to help individuals and foundations support the next generation of ventures working to restore forests, protect biodiversity, and tackle the climate crisis.

Can you really invest in nature the same way you might invest in a promising startup? At Brainforest, we believe you can and that you should. That’s why we created the Canopy Pool: a curated investment platform designed to help individuals and foundations support the next generation of ventures working to restore forests, protect biodiversity, and tackle the climate crisis.

To explain how it all works, we spoke with Tommy Gmeiner, Chief Venture Officer at Brainforest, who has been closely involved in shaping and growing the Canopy Pool from the beginning.

What exactly is the Canopy Pool?

It is a curated investment platform that allows individuals and foundations to invest in nature-focused startups. You can think of it as a bridge that connects capital with purpose, turning bold ideas into real impact. Every startup featured on the platform has been carefully selected through our Venture Program and vetted by a panel of experts. In many ways, it functions like an investment club. We make it simple and accessible to invest in promising early-stage companies, most of them in their pre-seed round. These ventures come from all over the world and share a common goal: to protect and restore nature.

Who can be part of it?

We welcome both private individuals and foundations. You don’t have to be a professional investor. You can start from CHF 5,000 and join a community of people who want to make a real difference for nature through smart, hands-on investing.

How does the process work if someone wants to sign up?

It’s simple and fully digital. You request access through our website, we onboard you, and then you can explore upcoming deals. You can choose to invest in specific startups or be part of the rolling pool that supports multiple ventures over time.

What kind of deals will be on the platform?

You’ll find early-stage startups from around the world focused on forest protection, regenerative agriculture, biodiversity monitoring, and climate-positive products. They’re not just ideas, they’re companies with real potential, expert support, and measurable impact.

Isn’t investing in nature startups a bit risky?

Yes, it is. Investing in early-stage ventures always involves risk, and nature startups are no exception. That is exactly why we created the Canopy Pool. We aim to make this kind of investing as thoughtful, supported, and informed as possible. Every startup on the platform has already gone through Brainforest’s Venture Program, which serves as a built-in due diligence process. Our team spends several weeks working closely with each venture to understand their business model, team dynamics, and impact potential before making them available to investors.

At the same time, the Canopy Pool functions like an investment club. It allows you to invest smaller amounts across several different startups. This helps you diversify your portfolio and manage risk. The ventures come from different countries, follow different business models, and are led by different teams. What unites them is their shared mission to protect and restore nature. It is a way to contribute to meaningful impact while spreading your investment across a range of opportunities.

We also take care of the entire investment process. From structuring and closing the deal to tracking results and reporting impact, Brainforest manages it all. We use thoughtful financing tools such as revenue-based loans and impact-linked investments to align returns with outcomes and to reduce financial risk. This allows your capital to be used more effectively while helping early-stage ventures grow with more confidence.

As an investor in the Canopy Pool, you will also gain access to the people behind the startups. We organize regular Q&A sessions, investment demo days, and ongoing updates so that you can stay close to the progress and feel connected to the community. You are not left on your own. You are joining a curated group of like-minded funders who want their capital to contribute to real and lasting change in nature.

Thank you, Tommy! Any final words?

Just this: if you care about nature and want your capital to be part of the solution, the Canopy Pool is one of the most direct, curated ways to make that happen. Let’s regenerate nature together.

Learn more about the Canopy Pool here.

Join the next Canopy Pool webinar here.

Access to the platform.