We’re on a mission to place regenerative businesses models at the forefront of the economy.
Why? Even though there’s no uniform definition of what regenerative entrepreneurship is, there is a clear objective - with a set of principles - that offers a different way of talking about how the economy can work for our best future, and how we can design regenerative businesses.
As part of our ambition to bring together the ecosystem players and support regenerative entrepreneurs, we sat down with a wonderful group of fellow experts and entrepreneurs to explore to discuss exactly how we can do that. For this initiative, we’re designing a new regenerative entrepreneurship acceleration program, in collaboration with experts aiming to empower pioneers navigating the complexities of innovative business models, financing, and new ownership structures. Just imagine trying to explain your approach to stakeholder value to your bookkeeper, or tell your lawyer that you want your statutes to include the voice of nature in your decision making process!
Our discussions touched on key questions: In what areas can a regenerative ecosystem drive change? What value can it bring? Here are some key takeaways:
- Regeneration is about solidarity, not competition—it's how we can work together to create lasting impact. It can be challenging to convince other stakeholders in your value chain of this shift in mindset.
- Regenerative entrepreneurs encounter more systematic challenges compared to other startups. Collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and recognition that the journey is ongoing are essential. We are learning by doing. But this is also an invitation to partners in the ecosystem to help tackle the bottlenecks to lighten the burden of the entrepreneurs.
- Long-term financial investments, not just short-term models, are critical to sustained regenerative growth. It would be great to offer stipends or other types of funding for bootstrapping regenerative startups in their early development, to give them a bit more room to experiment, without fearing for the financial situation at the end of each month.
- We must remain cautious to avoid 'dilution' or greenwashing of the concept; not everything needs to be labeled as regenerative just yet.
- We might want to consider using "community" or "network" instead of "ecosystem," as the term "ecosystem" implies relationships between soil and nutrients.
Together, we learned a great deal during this session from organizations like We Are Stewards, The DOEN Foundation, Wholebrands, New Economy , and Food Hub (NL) who provided valuable insights into how we can all contribute to a more regenerative future.
Know someone already leading with regenerative principles? Tag them below—let’s work together to drive change! Who should we include next time? Drop their names in the comments! #regenerativebusiness #sustainability #collaboration
The idea of using technology to minimize waste and reshape the industry sounds promising. It’s a reminder for us, as consumers, to question our obsession with newness and embrace more sustainable practices. Together, we can drive real change.