Dr Manuel Piñuela is a nature advocate, technology and science entrepreneur, and MIT Technology Review Innovator of the Year under 35.

He is Co-founder of Cultivo, Drayson Tech. and SENS.L. Experienced in private equity, venture investment, IPOs, M&A and technology commercialisation.

Manuel believes that the climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our times and creating Cultivo allows him to contribute to one of the many solutions that are needed. He wants to ensure future generations benefit from nature and works tirelessly to contribute to meet the Paris Agreement goals.

Manuel Piñuela

James has over 20 years experience building technology businesses from idea to IPO.

James is a former senior executive at Sensyne Health plc and managing director of their environmental business unit. James was part of the founding team at EVRYTHNG, the founder & CEO of a venture studio, and has built digital ventures for large corporations including BBC Worldwide and Shell.

James is a nature lover and is committed to making sure his young kids and future generations have a healthy planet and bright future.

Chief Strategy Officer

James Clifton

Having a background in Environmental Engineering, Pablo has focused his career on building companies that have a net-positive impact on the planet. He’s participated in a wide range of startups including co-founding Bright (a zero upfront cost distributed solar energy venture) and now Cultivo.

Pablo’s an advocate for permaculture, urban gardening, distributed energy production and decentralized systems. He currently splits his time between cycling trails around Mexico, producing music and building product for Cultivo and Bright.

Product

Pablo Castellanos

Dudley is a Partner and Head of Ventures at Outfront Capital, a venture capital and private equity investment manager. He was previously a General Partner at Anterra Capital, a global F&A fund backed by Fidelity and Rabobank and a Managing Partner at a utility-backed energy transition fund. He has been an early investor and board member of a number of international startups including Cultivo. Dudley holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and London Business School.

Executive Director - Investments

Dudley Hawes

With more than 6 years of project based experience ranging from evaluation of rural development and international funds policies, ecological restoration, renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Adolfo is a passionate and strong advocate for climate change solutions.

His work experience has led him to work in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Collaborating in diverse team structures, working with indigenous groups, government agencies, startups and international organizations.

Adolfo enjoys all outdoor activities and is keen on showing and sharing nature's beauty and the benefits it provides to society.

Operations

Adolfo Patron

Prior to joining Cultivo, Rebeca served as an Investment Professional in Northgate Capital, a private equity firm focused on developing small and mid-sized companies through capital and debt investments. Rebeca participated in identifying, assessing, executing, and managing equity investments. Prior to that, Rebeca worked at ADR, an Investment Banking Firm and former strategic partner of Lazard Ltd. for operations in Mexico. Rebeca participated in several mergers and acquisitions and restructuring deals, in the Pharmaceutical, Education, Food & Beverage, and Real Estate industries. Rebeca began her career in Credit Suisse, in the Private Banking division. Rebeca holds a B.S. in Finance from Universidad Iberoamericana

Head of Finance

Rebeca Bravo

A recent PhD graduate, Madeleine is a passionate environmentalist. Throughout her academic education she has gained strong knowledge & experience in several different fields of environmental science.

Born in Mexico to foreign parents, Madeleine has a multicultural background that has driven her to study & work internationally, recently having spent two years in India as a part of her PhD.

Madeleine now resides in Mexico City working as Jr Scientist where she is excited to work on highlighting the value of Nature Based Solutions

Environmental Scientist

Madeleine Nicolas

A former World Bank consultant and entrepreneur, Rafa has helped create a financial company, a mezcal brand, and a business accelerator for startups in renewable energy and biodiversity.

Rafa has been a public speaker in 5 countries in Latin America and has taught Entrepreneurship classes.

Rafa is a Board member at Griyum and a Partner at Parcela Creative Studio. He is part of the Global Shapers Community, NEXUS and Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

He currently studies Climate Change, Management and Finance at Imperial College London.

Partnerships

Rafa Alonso

A recent environmental science graduate of Brown University, Jimena has a background on sustainable development, green finance and science. She is particularly interested in sustainable development strategies in developing nations.

Jimena has a wide range of professional interests. She has worked on animal conservation in Borneo and Myanmar, environmental legal research in Mexico and recently published her research on green finance in China.

She is currently located in Mexico City and works as a Junior Data Analyst at Cultivo.

Data Analyst

Jimena Terrazas

With a background in international and financial economics, Brace garnered an interest in impact investing with the purpose of harnessing capital markets to drive social change.

Prior to joining Cultivo, Brace served as an Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs, a global market leader in mergers and acquisitions advisory. Brace worked in the Healthcare & Consumer Retail advisory team, based out of London. During his time at Goldman, Brace participated in a variety of acquisitions and financing deals, with a focus in the Large Pharmaceutical, Biotech, and Med-tech sub-sectors. Brace holds a B.A. in Economics from Claremont McKenna College.

Brace is currently located in Los Angeles working as an Investment Analyst at Cultivo.

Investment Associate

Brace Young

Sofía is a former Social Impact Consultant. She obtained her Engineering bachelor's degree from UNAM, and recently a master's degree in Development Planning from University College London.

Her latest professional experience has focused on assessing and managing social impact strategies for energy and infrastructure projects in Mexico. She has led social impact assessments and multi-stakeholder engagements around Mexico, and has worked with a wide range of organisations, from grassroots associations to multinational companies and international development agencies.

Sofía firmly believes in the sustainable lasting and positive impacts of nature solutions to the livelihoods of communities, as well as to climate change mitigation.

Strategic Operations

Sofía Fernández

Pedro is a civil engineer with extensive experience in project management at several international companies focused on structural engineering, cross-cultural and strategic management, and renewable energy generation projects. He is well-versed in leading the collaboration between private and public entities to promote high-impact projects with ejidos and other agrarian communities.

Pedro firmly believes that the fight against climate change and the related efforts of environmental protection and conservation are existential issues that concern us all. He is passionate about designing solutions using project management, technology, and process innovation that help us transition into a more sustainable way of living.

Project Manager

Pedro Rojas

Kristof is a Chartered Financial Analyst with more than twenty years' experience investing in forestry, farming and water rights. He started his career at Goldman Sachs as a corporate finance analyst, before joining Griffin Capital Management as a discretionary trader, focusing on agriculture soft commodities, after which he set up and built out the water resource and agriculture-focused investment strategies division for Thames River Capital where he was a Partner. Prior to joining Thames River, he was a Partner at Liontrust Asset Management, where he developed a sustainability overlay for the investment strategies he managed.

Kristof holds an MSc in Transition Economics from the London School of Economics and a BA in philosophy and politics from Durham University.

Managing Director - Investments

Kristof Bulkai

Alberto has over 15 years' international experience working at the intersection of technology, policy and data. He joined Cultivo in June 2021 from a fintech start-up headquartered in London where he was CTO. Previously, he was Head of Innovation Policy at BSI Group, where he worked with senior leaders across industry, academia and government to accelerate the development of emerging industries in the United Kingdom and internationally. Alberto is a Cambridge University graduate, where he specialised in technology and innovation policy. He has lived in 5 countries and is fluent in English, French and Spanish. Alberto resides in London with his wife and two girls and is committed to playing his part in shaping a better world for future generations.

Head of Yield and Policy

Alberto Garcia-Mogollon

Emiline is a biologist specializing in quantifying, restoring, and monitoring biodiversity. Growing up in the politically centered city of Washington, DC, she has become increasingly interested in how policy both shapes and reflects value systems related to nature.

After graduating from Smith College with a degree in Biology and a minor in Marine Science and Policy, she has worked for several non-profit organizations leading a variety of restoration efforts in marine, wetland, and terrestrial ecosystems.

Emiline is a strong believer that ecosystem restoration is inextricably linked to human well being, and by repairing our planet, we can also combat social and economic inequalities.

Biodiversity Specialist

Emiline Koopman

Caroline has 25 years commercial experience in general management and marketing leadership roles based in London, Beijing, Washington DC and Melbourne across the energy, automotive and professional service sectors.

An active diversity and inclusion champion, she led Shell's UK Gender Equality network, is a Board Trustee of The Soil Association and is Special Advisor to The Prince's Responsible Business Network, Business in the Community.

Caroline has a Science degree from the University of Melbourne, a Master's in Marketing from Monash University and recently completed the University of Cambridge Business Sustainability Management executive programme.

SVP Sustainability & Growth

Caroline Missen

Ben has spent his 20-year career helping companies generate both profits and positive social impact around the world. Prior to joining Cultivo in Aug. 2021, Ben was an attorney at global law firms, General Counsel of an international impact investing firm, CEO of a lifestyle brand partnering with female entrepreneurs in Africa, and the director of entrepreneurship initiatives at American Express. Ben regularly speaks and writes about social innovation. Ben received his JD from NYU Law, his BA from Washington University in Saint Louis, and completed Stanford's Graduate School of Business Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship. Born and raised in rural Maine, and now living in the Boston suburbs, Ben loves exploring nature and spending time with his wife and two wild little children.

SVP & General Counsel

Benjamin Stone

Aamir is a geospatial engineer with over 15 years of web applications development experience. He focuses on leveraging cloud infrastructure to devise scale-based solutions for highly available GIS tools. Aamir's role with Cultivo is to generate, refine, and materialize the product roadmap. One of his core responsibilities is to mentor a team of science experts to build an aligned vision and strong co-creation culture. In the realm of cloud computing, Aamir is a big fan of automation and serverless.

Having moved to the US from Dubai in 2011, he has since worked on several applications that relate to sustainability. Aamir graduated from University of Houston-Clear Lake majoring in Computer Science. In his spare time he enjoys hiking, tennis, teaching math, and more recently, researching nature-based solutions.

Senior Software Engineer

Aamir Suleman

Marta is an Investment Insight Professional and Data Scientist with 8 years' experience in the Investment management industry. She started her career at Schroders in London and then NYC, where she became a founding member of a team working with fund managers on integrating alternative and geospatial datasets into fundamental investment decision-making. At Dow Jones she led the technical design of a data-powered Sustainable Investments product. Marta has written and spoken about the emergence of Natural Capital as an asset class for The Wall Street Journal. She is passionate about the multidisciplinary nature of the space and is keen to accelerate it through investment partnerships.

Marta holds an MSci in Physics with Medical Physics from University College London, and has CFA Level 1, Investment Management Certificate and PRI´s Foundation in Responsible Investing.

Investment Partnerships

Marta Caballero

Peter witnessed the impact we have and the debt we owe to nature from a young age, spending his childhood summers shrimping and fishing off the Texas coast, and in traineeship at the local marine fisheries research center.

He then began his design career at the Environmental Office of the Adjunct General’s Department of Texas. Since that time, he has spent over 20 years pursuing a passion to bring positive change through creative work, collaborating with organizations of all types - from governmental bodies and local non-profits, to start-ups and large tech companies.

Peter holds a BBA in Marketing and International Business from the University of Texas at Austin, and resides in Bournemouth.

Lead Product Designer

Peter Oshima

Neil is a software developer with 20 years of experience in a range of industries, including video games, agent simulation for visual effects in movies, haptic creative tools and medical imaging. Most recently he was VP of Engineering at an ed-tech company where he led the development of an online learning platform specialising in teaching coding to K-12 children.

Neil is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two children. He thrives on solving challenging problems with code, and believes that there's no greater problem than the climate crisis facing our world. He joined Cultivo in 2021 to lead the engineering of the customer facing platform.

Platform Engineering Lead

Neil McMillan

Brace was the former Chief Executive Officer at Eclat Impact in 2016 and Chief Executive Officer and a Partner at Mariner Investment group from 2000-2015. He joined Mariner directly from Goldman Sachs, where he retired as a Partner, after a 20-year career in Fixed Income in New York, Tokyo, and London. He is also Chairman of Arabesque USA and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Social Finance, Inc., a Boston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing investment capital to drive social

Chairman

Mark Tercek advises the private sector on environmental strategy. He was previously the CEO of The Nature Conservancy (2008 - 2019) and a partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs (1984 -2008). He is the author of "Nature's Fortune: How Business and Nature Thrive by Investing in Nature." He serves on numerous non-profit boards including Williams College, Acumen, Resources for the Future, and Potential Energy. See 

 for his writings and speeches on environmental matters.

Non-Executive Director

Mark Tercek

Lucy is passionate about enhancing the investment industry's real-world impact through influencing capital allocation decisions to deliver sustainable investment returns.  Lucy currently leads the investment stewardship for the $110bn assets entrusted to TCorp, the sovereign wealth fund of NSW, Australia. Previously as Global Head of Sustainable Investment for Willis Towers Watson, Lucy advised large asset owners to align portfolios with environmental and social outcomes. Lucy holds a BA Hons I from Trinity College Dublin and is a CFA Charterholder.

Lucy Thomas

Gabriel Holschneider is passionate about family, philanthropy, art, the natural world & innovative business models. As Chairman of the Rainmaker Group he oversees a series of companies in finance, insurance, healthcare and technology.

Gabriel's drive for innovation & disruption, coupled with his background in law and his track record in private equity/M&A have earned him numerous Board Seats including: The Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature, Terra Habitus, Rejuvenate Healthcare, L.I.T., XSGlobal, Strategic Risk Solutions, ABL Social Federation and ngena GmbH.

Gabriel holds a law degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana and has participated in executive-education & extended-learning programs at Harvard & M.I.T.

Executive Director

Gabriel Holschneider

Steven Berkenfeld is founder and principal of Ecotopia Consulting LLC, and previously he was a Managing Director in Investment Banking at Barclays where he served as senior sponsor of the Environmental and Social Impact Banking Initiative and was co head of the firm's Cleantech Initiative. Before joining Barclays in 2008, Steven spent over 21 years at Lehman Brothers in numerous roles including Chief Investment Officer of the firm's Private Equity Division. He holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a Bachelor's of Science Degree from Cornell University.

Advisor

Steven Berkenfeld

Jan is a strategic experience designer exploring the positive impact of innovation on today’s society and our planet. He has worked with clients across many different industries, from Fortune 500 companies to early stage startups, from healthcare to social impact. He has been a speaker and guest teacher on design thinking at London Business School and Oxford University. Jan is the founder of The Planet Life, a creative hub working towards a brighter future accelerating the ambition of climate solutions around the world.

Jan Hellemans

Paige is an environmental scientist whose research focuses on how we account for, make decisions about, and value nature. At the Smart Prosperity Institute she leads the Conservation Finance initiative, which seeks to catalyze interest and investment in nature-based solutions. Her work in policy and practice spans local communities, NGOs, various scales of government, academia, and the private sector. Paige holds a PhD from the Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC and a Master's of Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University.

Paige Olmsted

Frank Hicks is a co-founder of Nature for Justice (N4J). Frank formerly worked in senior management positions with: Bio-Logical Capital; Forest Trends; Rainforest Alliance's Sustainable Agriculture Program; and Organic Commodity Products, all based in Costa Rica. He is also a former board member of Root Capital and EcoEnterprises Fund, and currently serves on the boards of Association Costa Rica Grameen, CIRENAS in Costa Rica, and Fundación Aliados in Ecuador. He has a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelor's degree in Human Biology from Stanford University.

Frank Hicks

Hank is currently Interim CEO for Nature for Justice (N4J). Hank has spent much of his career working with businesses, environmental organizations, and social justice groups to improve the livelihoods of people around the globe. Hank has worked for large NGOs including Conservation International, WWF, and the Forest Stewardship Council US, and as a management consultant for companies like GE, Corning, and Rubbermaid. Hank has undergraduate (BS) and graduate (MS) degrees in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Our purpose is to take care of nature.

Meet the team

Core team

Non executive directors & advisors

Our Values

Public Benefit

Transparent

Global

Interested in joining our team?