Endangered Wildlife OU: innovation and product range expansion

Endangered Wildlife OU (EW), an Estonian ESG consulting and software company, is emerging to be a leader in biodiversity data and valuations. The company uniquely financially values biodiversity to track, monitor and assess biodiversity impact value and risk, and to integrate biodiversity into decision-making. The company’s novel biodiversity valuation methodology has been reviewed more than 500 times by multi-disciplinary industry, advisory, and academic experts, and has been applied to over 140 individual species and seven richness cases. 

Existing clients range from private individuals, NGOs, social enterprises, private companies, and public companies, all seeking to enhance their understanding, reporting and/or lobbying of biodiversity and biodiversity-related activities. This is now more crucial than ever as new regulations and reporting requirements for companies and financial institutions have been introduced. 

There is an urgency to develop solutions that provide high-quality biodiversity data and measurements for businesses and others. EW recognizes that the current biodiversity data and metrics must be improved. To address this, EW has developed products that provide decision-makers with the biodiversity data they need to operate successfully, manage risks, and comply with regulations and laws.

Biodiversity database

EW designed the Biodiversity Database to be clear, transparent, and actionable. It is a centralized data aggregator with only top-quality and reliable data. The Biodiversity Database is a marketplace for region-specific, life-histories and species-specific data. It allows for sharing or selling data, especially financial values. The Biodiversity Database was developed with the support of the Expo Live Dubai Foundation – proudly being the first Estonian company to be part of their Global Innovators Programme.

What makes the Biodiversity Database different to other data providers is that it offers users with a better perspective of the key features of individual species, including life histories, population trends and interaction matrices. This includes birth rates, mortality rates, and sex ratios. This unique feature gives decision-makers a deeper understanding of how strategies impact species in a specific area and what is needed to preserve biodiversity. 

Offering more than mere metrics

Moving beyond the data, EW has the ability to calculate the financial value of biodiversity. This efficiently supports strategic decision-making and compliance with requirements and reports in that it breaks down the complex metrics of biodiversity to the one universal language – money. This allows companies and other stakeholders to better understand the costs associated with biodiversity strategies, and to help investors maximize their returns (ROI) while ensuring compliance with regulations.

The Biodiversity Valuator is focused on solving real-world problems. It allows a decision-maker to calculate financial value. For the first time, investors can comprehensively value their portfolios regarding biodiversity. Moreover, the valuations can help stakeholders understand how they are impacting biodiversity and how they can adjust their activities to minimize their negative impact on the planet. 

While the Biodiversity Valuator is currently being offered as a consulting service, the company has recently been awarded a Small Projects Applied Research Grant by EIS to develop the beta version of the Biodiversity Valuator software. This grant will allow the company to take the first steps towards integrating machine learning into both the Biodiversity Database and the Biodiversity Valuator thereby exponentially increasing operational efficiency and the ability to scale activities.

Environmental marketing analytics

EW’s Environmental Footprint Calculator (EFC) is a fully online and automated environmental impact assessment tool that allows companies and financial institutions to assess their environmental impact (internally and via their customers) based on lifestyle behaviour and choices. This takes the assessment beyond just carbon to drive and promote real lifestyle changes. The results of the EFC allow clients to identify room for improvement and new products, and repeated evaluations can help to track and measure them. While it does not lead to specific certification, it provides an effective marketing analytics tool for understanding client profiles relative to environmental footprints and how to structure products to address the clients’ shortcomings.

What is next in the innovation pipeline?

EW has partnered with Borneo Futures Sdn Bhd to redefine conservation finance. Together the two companies are developing a new innovative financing solution for wildlife and conservation – and it is not what everyone else is doing with biodiversity credits. The plan is to launch the solution to the public during H1 2025.

Looking to 2025

While the company reached new milestones in 2024 (including securing its first publicly listed corporate client), it holds optimism for 2025. The company foresees the potential for expanding its team as the software development progresses and the Biodiversity Database continues to expand. With new reporting requirements, there is an ongoing opportunity for the Biodiversity Valuator within the corporate market, and the partnership with Borneo Futures Sdn Bhd is set to disrupt the investment industry and bring together two decades worth of work.