Enabling nature intelligence for SMEs: Three winners of the TNFD-led Grand Challenge announced

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), Conservation X Labs (CXL) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced the three winners of the Nature Intelligence for Business Grand Challenge: Dunya Analytics, Mozaic Earth and Space Eagle Enterprises.

Nature intelligence — the ability to identify, assess and respond to nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities — is an essential new component of business intelligence, strategy and resilience for every business. Nevertheless, despite representing 90% of businesses globally, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) typically have significantly less budget, capacity and expertise to access many of the solutions designed to provide nature-related insights to large companies and financial institutions.

This challenge, launched by the TNFD and UNDP with the support of CXL in 2025, seeks to catalyse practical and affordable tools aligned to the TNFD's LEAP assessment approach and metrics to help SMEs understand and better manage how their business depends on and impacts nature and the corresponding risks and opportunities to their business.

The Grand Challenge solution winners announced today, and many others among the 380 applicants that applied to the challenge, are building and scaling exciting tech-enabled solutions that can deliver practical insights to SME owners and managers around the world at low cost and with little assumed knowledge.

The three winners are:

• Dunya Analytics (USA) – a platform that seeks to help customers identify nature-associated vulnerabilities and prioritise investments.
• Mozaic Earth (UK) – the developer of a platform intended to allow SMEs to collect data with their smart phones, then produce site-level ecosystem condition analysis.
• Space Eagle Enterprises (South Africa) – the developer of products for broadband connectivity and next-generation Earth-observation intelligence for governments, enterprises and communities across Africa.

"Over the past five years since the TNFD was launched, companies, investors and other capital providers around the world have become increasingly aware that the resilience of their business depends on the resilience of nature. A vibrant ecosystem of data and analytics solutions has emerged to serve big business and global financial institutions. The Grand Challenge was launched to catalyse solutions for the world's 300 million SMEs that have limited budget, time and capacity. We are delighted that over 380 innovators stepped up to this challenge and look forward to seeing how the winning solutions and those of the other finalists deploy worldwide to help every business build the nature intelligence they need," commented Tony Goldner, CEO of TNFD.

The winners were chosen from a pool of 12 Challenge Finalists announced on 25 February after a rigorous selection process involving written submissions from over 380 applicants and the participation of an international advisory panel of experts. The 12 Challenge Finalists then participated in a two-month user testing and performance evaluation phase. Each Finalist worked with two SMEs to conduct preliminary nature assessments aligned with the TNFD LEAP approach. Over 20 SMEs across 13 countries helped test the proposed solutions, applying them to their business operations across multiple sectors and geographies.

The selected winners showcased how they respond to the real-world needs of SME users and customers, demonstrating their practical and technical performance and capability to deliver data and insights aligned to the key aspects of the LEAP approach. They received feedback on user experience and perceived value to SMEs, and articulated their strategies to develop, market and deploy their solutions.

In addition to a $20,000 solution grant, Challenge organisers, partners and the Advisory Group will continue to work with winning solutions and other promising Finalists in the coming months to provide technical support and advisory services and identify new opportunities for funding and piloting to scale up access to nature intelligence tools for SMEs.

"Nature-positive business is no longer a future ambition, but a growing reality and fundamental to how businesses of all sizes manage risk and create value. Through partnerships like this Grand Challenge with TNFD and CXL, United Nations Development Programme is committed to ensuring that SMEs have access to affordable, practical tools that enable them to understand their dependencies on nature, strengthen resilience, and contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive economy," said Maxim Vergeichik, Senior Nature Economist at UNDP, at today's announcement.

About the Nature Intelligence for Business Grand Challenge:

The Nature Intelligence for Business Grand Challenge is a global competition convened by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), Conservation X Labs (CXL), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to accelerate solutions that help SMEs better assess and act on nature-related issues based on TNFD's LEAP approach and recommended metrics. It catalysed over 380 applications from entrepreneurs and solution providers in 46 countries.

About the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD):

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is comprised of 40 business and finance leaders from around the world and was launched in 2021 with the support of the G20. TNFD provides recommendations and guidance for market participants and other stakeholders about how nature beyond climate should be assessed, managed and reported. It has built a global movement of support and action, including over 730 organisations and over USD 22 trillion in assets under management (AUM) now committed to reporting their nature-related issues aligned with the TNFD recommendations published in September 2023. The TNFD recommendations build on the previous approach and recommendation of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and are aligned with the impact standards of the GRI, the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the sustainability reporting standards of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

About CXL:

Conservation X Labs (501c3) is a nonprofit innovation organization dedicated to addressing the underlying drivers of human-induced extinction. CXL does this by harnessing technology, entrepreneurship, and open innovation to transform how conservation's biggest challenges are solved. CXL has run 20 global prizes and challenges, supported 177 game-changing innovations, deployed monitoring tools tracking over 280 species, and helped expand protection to 393,000 hectares of critical habitat. By breaking down silos and championing collaboration, Conservation X Labs builds bold solutions that deliver measurable impact for people and nature.

About UNDP:

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. Learn more at www.undp.org/nature or follow @UNDP. 1 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017 | www.undp.org

Media Contact:

Christopher Moyer
Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing, Conservation X Labs
[email protected]

SOURCE Conservation X Labs