90% of institutional investors want exposure to natural assets. Until now, they lacked an easy and compliant way in.
Ridge has launched the financial infrastructure for natural assets, transforming forests, farmland and other natural assets into regulated, ISIN-listed, investment-grade securities. For the first time, investors can access natural assets in the same easy way they invest into bonds or equities.
For the first time, forests and natural assets can be accessed like bonds: regulated, transparent and impact-verified. Ridge is building the infrastructure to make nature investable at scale.”
— Sascha Breuss
Natural assets represent one of the largest structurally underserved asset classes in global capital markets and remain difficult for institutional capital to access at scale. The World Economic Forum estimates that more than half of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature, while the United Nations Environment Programme calculates that investment must increase 2.5 times to US$571 billion annually by 2030 to meet established global targets.
Ridge estimates the global natural asset market at $9 to 10 trillion, including around $225 billion in sustainably managed assets currently held outside capital markets.
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The structural barrier to connect natural assets to capital markets is not demand. More than 90% of all institutional investors indicate plans to invest in or increase allocations to natural assets by 2030. Yet existing routes to the asset class remain fragmented, illiquid, operationally complex and do not clear the compliance, custody or due diligence bar institutional capital requires.
Ridge provides the missing regulatory framework and infrastructure for issuing institutional-grade natural asset securities. The platform applies a standardised origination, validation, structuring, distribution and monitoring stack to natural assets, converting them into regulated financial products with ISIN identifiers, embedded financial and environmental due diligence, and reporting aligned to SFDR and EU Taxonomy requirements. Each issuance is completed in weeks rather than months, at a fraction of the cost of incumbent alternative structures.
Ridge has already demonstrated proof of concept, issuing four regulated financial products under European financial regulation, with ISIN identifiers issued through established European banking infrastructure. The inaugural product was a bond backed by a Canadian forest. Partnerships are in place with three German banks and two alternative asset platforms for product distribution. The company has an active pipeline of over $100 million in global natural asset projects with an attractive risk and returns profile (IRR between 5-12%) under structuring, with documented allocation intent from professional and institutional investors.
Alongside the launch, Ridge announced the close of an oversubscribed $2 million pre-seed funding round led by Disrupt.com, with E4E participating as a venture capital partner alongside two strategic angel investors. The capital will accelerate platform development, expand institutional distribution capabilities, and support the scaling of Ridge’s regulated infrastructure for natural asset securities.
Ridge is backed by Disrupt.com, a MENA-based operator-led venture builder focused on creating AI-native companies designed that address structural gaps in global markets. Disrupt’s business model combines structured operational engagement supported with venture funding to enable Ridge to develop as a fully integrated platform.
Ridge founder Sascha Breuss said: “For the first time, investors can access forests and other natural assets in the same way they buy a bond or any other financial product. Natural assets are among the most important foundations of the global economy, yet they have remained largely disconnected from capital markets. Ridge is building the missing infrastructure to change that – making a sustainably managed forest in Canada or a regenerative rubber plantation in Guatemala as easy to access as any other security: regulated, transparent, and impact-verified products that enable institutional investment in natural assets at scale.”
“At Disrupt.com, we build and back the infrastructure that powers the future of finance. Ridge has built the bridge between natural assets and global capital markets, turning a historically inaccessible market into an investable asset class. With four regulated products already live, Ridge is becoming foundational infrastructure for the next generation of financial markets, where returns and real assets converge.” — Aaqib Gadit, Founding Partner, Disrupt.com.
“At E4E, we back exceptional entrepreneurs solving meaningful global challenges with scalable business models. Ridge combines a highly compelling market opportunity with a clear vision and execution capability. We strongly believe that nature-based investing will become one of the defining investment themes of the coming decades”, said Frederik Gerner, Co-Founder and Partner at E4E.
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