Matt Leggett is the founder and CEO of terratai, Asia's first ‘venture builder’ for nature, designed to support and co-create businesses that halt and reverse ecosystem and biodiversity loss. 

Based in Indonesia, terratai recently raised over $2M from UBS Optimus Foundation and Swiss Re Foundation to roll out its venture-building model.

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👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

I run Terratai, which blends finance from investors and philanthropists to build and scale early-stage companies that can demonstrate positive impacts on nature and biodiversity.

We identify companies and founders with great ideas that can have powerful impacts on the most vulnerable ecosystems in Indonesia, and then we inject a mix of expertise across venture building, impact investment, and nature to support these companies until they can access more mainstream investors and continue to scale.

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🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I think there is a general sense from many investors that there is a problem with 'pipeline' - i.e. there simply aren't enough companies that are able to demonstrate impact on nature.

I see the opposite problem—we meet amazing impact-focused companies every week!

The problem is that current investment models and criteria aren't 'seeing' these opportunities—they're often quite early stage, might need hands-on support, and smaller levels of investment. 

This is really where terratai comes in—as the bridge between mainstream investors and the companies really connected to impact.

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🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I've spent most of my career protecting forests and biodiversity, and progress in this field tends to be incremental with relatively few 'big wins'.

That being said, several of the projects and initiatives I've played a role in starting have gone on to generate big impacts and are still going strong—from setting up remote field stations to train a new generation of conservation scientists, working to secure land rights for remote communities threatened by illegal logging, or setting up complex partnerships with—it's hard to pick a highlight!

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🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

I think the moves towards trying to understand how to derive values for biodiversity and nature are incredibly interesting.

Smart companies and investors need to work out how to remove nature risk, and shift towards recognizing that nature can also provide additional revenue streams.

Recognizing and monitoring biodiversity values is going to be a critical part of making this a reality, and there are a number of early-stage companies already providing the methodologies and tools to support these efforts.

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💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?   

I think terratai operates at the intersection of venture building, impact investing, and environmental philanthropy, so there are no 'typical' pathways to get to this point! 

I'm 100% biased, but I think the world would benefit from more investors with deep expertise in conservation and nature, and vice versa, so anything that enables people to move between these two spaces is going to be a major future asset as we increasingly shift towards a more nature-focused economy.

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🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

Perhaps it goes without saying, but nature and biodiversity in all forms, but I'm also a social scientist by training, so anything to do with the world's cultural diversity also has me hooked.

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🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show? 

I'm loving the new Avatar film!

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🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Anything apart from banana!

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FYI. We've edited this interview for clarity.