How venture capital is turning invasive species into profit while restoring ecosystems

A diver spears an invasive lionfish off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in summer 2012. The fish is one of several invasive species now being transformed into leather by Miami-based startup Inversa.

You can now buy sandals made with leather from invasive lionfish. A clothing and gear company called Grundéns is selling flip-flops featuring a "panel" of scaly lionfish leather. The material is produced by Inversa, which crafts leather from a range of invasive species, including Burmese pythons, lionfish, and iguanas in Florida—animals known to damage the state’s native ecosystems.

The venture’s core idea is simple: by converting invasive species into luxury products, companies can turn a profit while restoring ecosystems. It’s a dual win for the environment and the bottom line.

This tandem goal—achieving both financial and ecological returns—drives Superorganism, a new venture capital firm dedicated to biodiversity. Earlier this year, Superorganism announced it raised nearly $26 million from investors, including the Cisco Foundation and Builders Vision, an investment firm founded by a Walmart heir.

According to Kevin Webb, cofounder of Superorganism with conservation technology expert Tom Quigley, the firm has invested these funds in 21 startups to date.

“Fundamentally, we only really have to do two things,” said Webb, who comes from a family of venture capitalists. “We have to find businesses where we believe that there’s going to be outsized economic returns. And then we have to believe that there’s the opportunity for outsized ecological returns.”

The notion that profit-driven companies can help protect or restore the environment may seem counterintuitive, given historical precedent. Agriculture and energy companies, for example, have razed vast amounts of wildlife habitat, eroding the largely hidden services that ecosystems provide. Yet Webb, who holds a graduate degree in sustainability science, argues there are clear opportunities to profit from innovations that reduce environmental harm—and some of these innovations are prime targets for venture capital.

Webb highlighted new technologies in agriculture that help companies harvest crops more efficiently. These innovations can meet existing market needs in sustainable ways, making them strong candidates for VC investment.

In addition to Inversa, Webb shared three other companies in Superorganism’s portfolio that he finds particularly promising:

• Spoor: Develops technology to monitor birds and bats around wind turbines, helping energy companies and regulators assess collision risks using AI-powered cameras.