The 10x Open Water Swim for Nature.
The extreme heat, drought, rising heat-related deaths and record-low water levels across Europe inspired us to prototype an Open Water Swim for Nature on Lake Zürich in 2026, using every kilometre swum to unlock more impact investment for nature. The prototype will take place on September 14, a local public holiday in Zurich (Knabenschiessen).
Nature’s challenges are accelerating exponentially. Solutions need to keep pace.
Why 10x
Many of nature’s challenges are exponential. In the Amazon, for example, forest loss can reduce rainfall, making remaining forests drier and more vulnerable to fire and further forest loss. One cycle reinforces the next.
That is why solutions must be able to scale exponentially too. Brainforest portfolio company Ceres Seeding in Brazil, for example, combines drones and AI to enable reforestation at scale in remote and difficult-to-access areas.
Why impact investment?
Philanthropy has an important role to play, but it cannot meet the scale of the challenge alone. Ultimately, we need to build a nature-positive economic system, where regenerating and protecting nature becomes part of how capital is deployed and value is created. Impact investment is a critical part of that transition, mobilizing the capital needed to grow nature-positive ventures at scale.
The swim brings these two ideas together. For every kilometre a swimmer completes, an investor’s commitment to startups from the Brainforest Venture Program doubles: 1×, 2×, 4×, 8×, 16× and beyond.
An exponential signal for nature.
How it works
Set your commitment
Choose your base commitment for the swimmer’s first completed kilometre and, optionally, set a maximum total commitment.
Exponential impact
Your amount doubles with every additional full kilometer: 1 km, then 2×, 4×, 8×, 16× and up. Partial kilometers round down; 5.8 km = 5 km.
Back Nature Startups
The end amount is your commitment to the Canopy Pool Club, investing alongside Brainforest via the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)-approved LEVA platform.
Commit to it
Before you Commit
Indicative commitment: CHF 10’000–50’000.
You’ll be investing in early-stage nature ventures. These investments are high risk and should be viewed with a 10+ year horizon, so only commit capital you are comfortable investing for the long term.
Swim Rules · Building on general open water swimming competition rules
A clean challenge, built for a clean sport.
Timing
All kilometers must be swum within the daylight hours of one calendar day, sunrise to sunset.
No Assistance
No touching the support boat, kayak, buoys, or another person. Touching anything ends that day’s attempt (zero km).
Clean Sport
No doping or performance-enhancing substances, per Swiss Olympic anti-doping standards. Participants agree to a Swiss Sport Integrity test on request.
Confirmed Swimmers
Capital commitments for Brainforest’s Canopy Pool Club
9 km
12 km