This month, we’ve prepared amazing masterclasses and workshops to help you scale up your nature venture! Each week, an ecopreneur will share their success, secrets, and little mishaps to inspire and guide you along the way.
If you’re into restoring ecosystems, working with local communities, building digital platforms, gaining visibility, recycling & reusing plastic, using natural materials, or learning how AI can boost your funding efforts, all for nature, these events are made for you!
All masterclasses are live for one hour every Tuesday and are exclusive to Wildya Premium members. But workshops, which are 45-min live sessions on Wednesday, are open to all Wildya Community members!
So, if you’re looking to grow your mission with insights from those who’ve been there, done that, join us on Wildya Premium Community and get access to these weekly sessions.
Oh, and here’s a little bonus for you: enjoy a 10-day free trial of Wildya Premium! 🎁
Let’s dive in and meet biodiversity heroes and their awesome topics!
September 2nd – Bridging Nature and Industry: The Natural Materials with Aisha Kuijk / Masterclass
📅 September 2
⏰ 1 – 2 pm CET
Can a shoe spark a shift in how we design for the planet?
Aisha Kuijk thinks so and she’s walking the talk. As a concept artist and material expert, Aisha uses footwear as a playground to reconnect design with natural systems. But this masterclass isn’t just for sneakerheads. It’s for anyone who wants to build regenerative products that tread lightly and tell a bigger story.
From working with brands like Vivobarefoot to launching her open-source platform Haute Matter, Aisha is pioneering how natural materials can bridge industry and ecology.
💡 Why it matters:
If we want a wilder world, we need to rethink how we create. Not just what we protect.
Natural materials aren’t just sustainable. They’re storytellers. They’re systems-aware. They’re part of the solution.
💪 What you’ll walk away with:
✅ What “natural materials” really means and how to work with them
✅ The hidden trade-offs and truths behind sustainability in product design
✅ How to source materials that regenerate land, not just reduce harm
✅ Lessons from collaborating across industries and scaling ideas into brands
✅ A behind-the-scenes look at Haute Matter and how Aisha educates through design
✅ How you can apply this mindset to your own nature venture, even outside of fashion
🙋♀️ For you if you’re into:
→ Materials innovation and regenerative design
→ Bridging nature with industry and product development
→ Creating things that are beautiful, bold, and biodegradable
→ Building businesses that align with ecosystems
→ Exploring cross-sector inspiration from fashion, art, and ecology
🤩 Biodiversity Builder behind the session:
Aisha Kuijk is a Footwear Concept Artist, materials strategist, and founder of Haute Matter, an open-source platform that makes the case for working with nature instead of against it.
She works at the intersection of natural materials, regenerative systems, and design for impact, helping brands bring their values to life through what they make and how they make it.
🔗 Connect with Aisha on LinkedIn
🔗 Explore Haute Matter
September 3rd – Wild Idea into Action Gathering
📅 September 3
⏰ 7 – 8 pm CET
On Friday 22nd of August, already +113 ecopreneurs wanted our free Wild Idea Finder!
Now, let’s all meet to talk about the next steps.
Last week was wild. When I launched the Free AI tool to help folks coming up with nature NGO/companies I didn’t expect so many people to be interested.
Yet the idea is only the 1st step. Now let’s take the second.
We will host a free event to:
- Give you the opportunity to share the idea you came up with.
- Find potential co-founders, collaborators or supporters.
- I (Oliver) will share some useful actions you can take next.
+ it holds us all accountable to pursue all these wild ideas & actually take action.
113 people who want to get into action mode & build a wilder world.
Now that gives me hope! So see you on the 3rd September!
September 9th – From Trash to Impact: The Wild Journey of WILDPLASTIC with Christian Sigmund / Masterclass
📅 September 9
⏰ 7 – 8 pm CET
There are 5 billion tons of plastic waste polluting our planet.
Christian Sigmund didn’t just shake his head at it. He built a business around cleaning it up.
In this masterclass, you’ll meet the co-founder of WILDPLASTIC, a company turning discarded plastic from oceans, forests, landfills and streets into purposeful products. From garbage bags to packaging to pouches.
You’ll hear how Christian went from building YouTube’s early community to co-founding one of Europe’s boldest impact startups and why wild plastic is more than just trash. It’s an opportunity to regenerate, redesign, and reimagine how we do business with the planet in mind.
💡 Why it matters:
Only 9% of plastic waste has ever been recycled. The rest?
It’s piling up in the wild, harming nature, health, and communities.
WILDPLASTIC is tackling this head-on and showing how circular business models can scale environmental impact and improve working conditions at the same time.
💪 What you’ll walk away with:
✅ The story of how WILDPLASTIC went from wild idea to real impact
✅ How they’ve recovered over 1.200 tons of plastic and saved 2.643 tons of CO₂
✅ What it takes to build a product from waste and create a brand people love
✅ Why supply chain transparency and better working conditions go hand in hand
✅ How steward ownership helps them stay true to their mission
✅ How to land corporate clients that care about packaging and impact
✅ How to balance B2C and B2B in one business model
✅ How your company can switch to sustainable packaging solutions that truly make a difference
🙋♀️ For you if you’re into:
→ Circular economy and regenerative product design
→ Starting or scaling impact ventures
→ Plastic recovery, recycling, and waste innovation
→ Building brands that are brave, bold, and purpose-led
→ Making real impact without waiting for perfect systems
🤩 Biodiversity Builder behind the session:
Christian Sigmund is the CEO and co-founder of WILDPLASTIC, a Hamburg-based company on a mission to free the world from wild plastic waste. Before launching this wild ride, he helped build the YouTube community at Google and worked with startups across Europe.
The idea for WILDPLASTIC hit him while surfing in Peru surrounded by a never-ending sea of plastic. That moment stuck with him. He knew he had to act.
By chance, he met a group of like-minded co-founders and immediately jumped on the opportunity to turn frustration into impact. Together, they launched WILDPLASTIC and never looked back.
🔗 Connect with Christian on LinkedIn
🔗 Explore WILDPLASTIC
September 15th – Ecopreneur Beginner Bootcamp Q&A Event
📅 September 15
⏰ 7 – 7:30 pm CET
On the 1st of October, we are launching our 1st Ecopreneur Beginner Bootcamp.
In just 6 weeks we will take you and 19 other aspiring ecopreneurs from your wild idea to first paying supporters.
No matter if you want to build a nature NGO or business.
You might have some remaining questions before saving your spot.
So in this event, you can ask me (Oli) all your burning questions.
September 16th – Regenerative Cacao: Restoring Forests and Futures in Guatemala with Gerjet Efken / Masterclass
📅 September 16
⏰ 7 – 8 pm CET
Can cacao help restore ecosystems, support local communities, and fight climate change?
At Finca Encanto, the answer is yes and it’s already happening.
Led by CEO Gerjet Efken, this regenerative cacao initiative is transforming former coffee monocultures into thriving agroforests. Located in Guatemala and powered by deep partnerships with local communities, Finca Encanto is reimagining cacao not just as a crop, but as a catalyst for biodiversity, climate action, and sustainable livelihoods.
This masterclass will take you behind the scenes of one of the most ambitious regenerative cacao projects in Central America.
💡 Why it matters:
Cacao is often seen as a forest-friendly product, but the truth is more complex. In many places, cacao farming is contributing to deforestation.
Finca Encanto flips that script. By combining cacao with native shade trees, fruit species, and food crops. They’re restoring degraded land and showing that agriculture can regenerate rather than destroy.
💪 What you’ll walk away with:
✅ What regenerative cacao actually means (and what makes it different)
✅ How Finca Encanto turned an industrial coffee farm into a biodiverse agroforest
✅ How to bounce back when crop fails & you lose 200,000€
✅ Why partnerships with local communities are the backbone of this project
✅ How 700,000+ trees have been planted and 675 hectares of forest protected
✅ The business model behind land restoration at scale
✅ Lessons for anyone working on land-based projects or agroecology
✅ How to balance ecological goals with product quality and market needs
🙋♀️ For you if you’re into:
Agroforestry and ecosystem restoration
Regenerative cacao and forest-friendly farming
Scaling nature-based businesses
Working with local communities
Turning degraded land into living systems
Nature-positive value chains
🤩 Biodiversity Builder behind the session:
Gerjet Efken is the CEO of Finca Encanto. Gerjet combines startup grit with a deep care for founder health.
After earning his Master’s in Corporate Management and Economics, he worked across NGOs, development finance, and Berlin’s health tech scene. Before launching his own startup, Skill Yoga, in 2018. He grew it to over €1M in revenue and raised €1.8M in funding while quietly facing the stress, pressure, and burnout so common in the founder journey.
Today, he supports other founders in doing it differently, blending real startup experience with Accelerate Health training in fitness, yoga, breathwork, and body-based coaching. He also grows cacao in Guatemala because regeneration, like leadership, starts deep below the surface.
🔗 Connect with Gerjet on LinkedIn
🔗 Explore Finca Encanto
September 23rd – How to Increase Retention to Reach Product-Market Fit with Gilles Toussaint / Masterclass
📅 September 23
⏰ 7 – 8 pm CET
Many nature ventures don’t fail because of a bad idea.
They fail because people try it once, then never come back.
That’s where retention comes in.
Retention is what separates one-hit wonders from lasting impact. It’s what helps you go from a project people love in theory to a product they return to again and again. Without it, product-market fit remains just out of reach and scaling becomes impossible.
In this masterclass, growth strategist Gilles Toussaint will unpack why retention is the number one growth blocker for purpose-driven ventures, and what to do about it. You’ll walk away with clarity, tools, and concrete actions to turn your audience into committed users or supporters.
💡 Why retention matters for you ecopreneurs:
A strong retention rate means better word of mouth, more repeat usage, and lower customer acquisition costs.
More importantly, it means your product is actually working for people.
In a mission-driven venture, that’s everything.
💪 What you’ll walk away with:
✅ What retention really means and how to measure it
✅ Why retention is the key to product-market fit
✅ How Gilles helped climate and music tech startups triple conversions and reduce churn
✅ How to raise your retention rate above your competitors
✅ What to focus on if you’re losing people after the first experience
✅ 3 things you can do this week to improve retention
✅ Real examples from startups that scaled through retention
✅ Time to ask Gilles about your own product and get live feedback
🙋♀️ For you if you’re into:
- Nature ventures and digital tools
- Climate tech, SaaS, or education platforms
- Product-led growth
- Founder-led marketing
- Fixing user drop-off
- Getting early traction and scale
🤩 Biodiversity Builder behind the session:
Gilles Toussaint is not your typical growth marketer. With a PhD in chemistry and over a decade leading growth in B2C and impact startups, he brings both analytical depth and startup speed.
He’s helped companies like Planet Wild, Tracklib, and iMusician scale to tens of thousands of paying users, triple conversion rates, and reduce churn by 28 percent. His secret? Relentless focus on retention, real-world testing, and making growth a team sport.
He now runs GT Impact, a fractional CMO and growth strategy company helping mission-led founders reach their revenue goals without compromising their values.
🔗 Connect with Gilles on LinkedIn
🔗 Explore GT Impact
🔗 Apply for his Growth Catalyst Sprint
September 24th – Nature Impact Scaling Workshop
📅 September 24
⏰ 7 – 8 pm CET
How to grow your nature venture’s revenue, visibility, traction and impact.
Trump, Omnibus rollback, USAID cuts, corporate disinterest…
Not an easy time for us nature people right now.
Time to put the power back into our hands and focus on what we can control.
Join me for a FREE hands-on 45-minute workshop where I’ll share the 4-part formula I use to help nature founders scale their nature impact in these crazy times.
✅ Why you should join as an (a future) ecopreneur:
- Designed for nature-focused NGOs & Businesses
- Understand where you are currently blocked & fix it
- Learn the system we used to help 20+ nature ventures grow their impact
- Build a roadmap to stop spinning & start scaling
- Get honest, real-world strategies (no hype, no fluff)
✅ What you’ll walk away with:
- The Nature Impact Formula
- A self-assessment to identify your biggest scaling bottleneck
- 3 practical tips for each part of the formula you can apply right after the webinar
- Case examples of biodiversity ventures turning visibility into impact
- A chance to ask me your questions & challenges live
Let’s grow your mission and build a wilder world together.
September 30th – Putting Nature Projects on the Map: How to Build Trust with Transparency with Alexander Watson / Masterclass
📅 September 30
⏰ 7 – 8 pm CET
How do you show your impact when your work happens far from the spotlight?
For thousands of conservation and restoration projects, visibility is a real struggle. You’re doing the hard work on the ground but funders, buyers, and partners can’t always see it.
Alexander Watson is here to change that.
As the co-founder of explorer.land, Alexander built one of the most powerful mapping platforms in the nature space. It’s used by land stewards, NGOs, Indigenous communities, and restoration companies across the globe to showcase their impact in transparent, interactive ways and to connect with the people and funding they need to grow.
💡 Why it matters:
A map isn’t just a location tool. It’s a trust-builder. A story platform. A bridge between the field and the funder.
If we want to scale nature restoration, we need to bring more transparency, visibility, and storytelling into the work.
💪 What you’ll walk away with:
✅ Why map-based storytelling builds more trust than any PDF report
✅ How explorer.land helps nature ventures connect with donors and buyers
✅ What funders are actually looking for in restoration projects
✅ Ways to combine real data, satellite imagery, and human stories
✅ How to use transparency as a strategy not just a requirement
✅ How to create a product that is used by NGOs & Corporates
✅ Lessons from building one of the largest digital restoration directories
✅ How to start using explorer.land for your own project
✅ Your chance to ask Alexander anything
🙋♀️ For you if you’re into:
Nature-based solutions and land restoration
Digital tools for nature ventures
Project transparency and stakeholder engagement
Fundraising, funding, and donor visibility
Bringing biodiversity stories to life
🤩 Biodiversity Builder behind the session:
Alexander Watson is the co-founder of explorer.land and OpenForests, a global team using tech and transparency to support forest projects. His background in forestry and finance gives him a sharp eye for what works and what doesn’t when scaling restoration.
What started as a late-night kitchen conversation turned into a global platform used by hundreds of initiatives. From reforestation in Panama to drone-mapping in Southeast Asia, Alexander’s mission is clear: help good projects stand out and get the support they deserve.
🔗 Connect with Alexander on LinkedIn
🔗 Explore explorer.land
🔗 Learn more about OpenForests
Interested in attending these events and starting to scale your nature mission? Join our Wildya Premium Community now and benefit from a 10-day free trial!
The recordings of the masterclasses & workshops will also be available afterwards for our Wildya Premium members, in case you’re too busy rewilding nature!
See you there!
