Unearthodox
Unearthodox is a Geneva-based nonprofit that convenes innovators, institutions, and funders through cohorts, incubation journeys, and field-building publications to drive systems change at the intersection of nature and society.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersVersoix, Switzerland
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Unearthodox does
Unearthodox is a Geneva-headquartered nonprofit social-innovation organisation that drives systems change at the intersection of nature and society. Founded in 2023 as a successor to the Luc Hoffmann Institute — itself established in 2015 with backing from WWF and the MAVA Foundation — the organisation runs three interconnected programmes: Regenerative Futures (which houses the Sparks of Regeneration incubation journey), Exploration Co-Lab (a cohort-based exploration programme currently running its second cohort, Edges of Possibility), and Creative Futures Spaces. It also publishes field-building content, including the Anthology of Regenerative Futures and three consecutive annual reports (2023–2025).
Rather than selling a technology product, Unearthodox operates as a convening platform: it runs open-call cohorts, incubation journeys, and innovation challenges (e.g., Beyond Tourism in Africa with African Leadership University) to surface and nurture socio-environmental innovations. Its 'technology' is a structured facilitation methodology and a curated network spanning conservation (WWF, IUCN), academia (ETH Zürich, Cambridge, UCL), policy (Future Earth, IUCN SULi, IIED), and impact funders.
The business model is grant-funded nonprofit operations: programmes are typically free to participants and resourced via foundation grants, institutional donors, and collaborative funding arrangements. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is dual — top-of-funnel awareness through content, social media, publications, and open calls, mid-funnel through partner networks (WWF, African Leadership University, IUCN) and events/webinars. The organisation claims a global footprint with primary registration in Switzerland (Geneva and Versoix) and no commercial pricing model.
Unearthodox firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Unearthodox
- Legal name
- Unearthodox
- Website
- https://unearthodox.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Unearthodox is a Geneva-based nonprofit that convenes innovators, institutions, and funders through cohorts, incubation journeys, and field-building publications to drive systems change at the intersection of nature and society.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Unearthodox is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Versoix
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Unearthodox business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Foundation/Grant Funding: Unearthodox is a non-profit organisation that operates through funding from foundations, institutional donors, and partnerships. Their revenue model centres on grants and collaborative funding arrangements to support their mission-driven work on regenerative futures and nature regeneration.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Unearthodox product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Unearthodox is a non-profit social innovation organisation that runs three interconnected programmes (Regenerative Futures, Exploration Co-Lab, Creative Futures Spaces) to convene innovators, investors, and organisations around systems change at the intersection of nature and society. It selects cohorts and incubation initiatives through open calls, and produces publications such as the Anthology of Regenerative Futures.
Product overview
Unearthodox is a social innovation organization that drives systems change to address complex environmental issues and regenerate nature. Rather than a technology product company, it operates as a collaborative network hub with three interconnected programmes: Regenerative Futures (which includes the Sparks of Regeneration incubation journey), Exploration Co-Lab (featuring cohorts like Edges of Possibility), and Creative Futures Spaces. These programmes work together to connect innovators, investors, and organizations to nurture new ideas for nature and people to thrive together.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Regenerative Futures Programme: One of three interconnected programmes focused on fostering unexpected and diverse connections to reimagine challenges at the intersection of nature and society
- Exploration Co-Lab
- Creative Futures Spaces
- Sparks of Regeneration
Products and services
- Regenerative Futures Programme A flagship programme focused on exploring regeneration as an ethos and fostering pathways towards transformative change for all life. It includes incubation initiatives like Sparks of Regeneration and serves social innovators, investors, and organisations working on socio-environmental challenges.
- Exploration Co-Lab A programme that brings together innovators to collaboratively explore complex challenges at the intersection of nature and society through cohorts such as Edges of Possibility. Innovators are selected through open calls.
- Creative Futures Spaces A programme designed to make space for social innovations that expand pathways towards transformative change, focusing on creative approaches to nature-society challenges.
- Sparks of Regeneration Incubation Journey An annual incubation journey within the Regenerative Futures Programme that supports innovators and change-makers developing creative solutions for regenerative futures. Selected initiatives receive support and resources.
Quantifiable outcome
- Multiple cohorts of innovators supported through incubation and exploration programmes
Companies that use Unearthodox
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Unearthodox technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Unearthodox partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and significant.
- Luc Hoffmann InstitutecoreUnearthodox transitioned from the Luc Hoffmann Institute in 2022-2023. The Luc Hoffmann Institute was the predecessor organisation, and Unearthodox continues its mission of connecting diverse communities to support regenerative futures. The transition marked a new chapter while maintaining continuity with the founding vision.
- WWFcoreWWF is a key partner in conservation work. Unearthodox collaborates with WWF on various initiatives including the Beyond Tourism in Africa innovation challenge, biodiversity initiatives, and conservation projects. WWF-Norway partnered specifically on the initiative focused on identifying and piloting new revenue streams for wildlife conservation.
- African Leadership University's School of Wildlife ConservationmajorPartner in the Beyond Tourism in Africa innovation challenge, providing the incubation programme for winners. The partnership involves the School of Wildlife Conservation hosting and supporting innovators selected through the innovation challenge.
- Post Growth InstitutesignificantCommissioned by Unearthodox, the Post Growth Institute led the report 'Nurturing Innovation: Weaving containers with care and courage for collective change' exploring how systemic innovation takes root and begins to flourish.
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)coreIUCN partnered with the Luc Hoffmann Institute (predecessor to Unearthodox) on synthetic biology and biodiversity conservation, including designing a science-policy dialogue. The collaboration resulted in a global assessment and policy recommendations for the World Conservation Congress.
- Future EarthsignificantCollaborator on the Biodiversity Revisited initiative, which generated a new research agenda for biodiversity conservation through essays and expert reviews.
- ETH Zürich Department of Environmental Systems SciencesignificantCollaborator on the Biodiversity Revisited initiative, contributing academic expertise from the Department of Environmental Systems Science.
- University of Cambridge Conservation Research InstitutesignificantAcademic collaborator on the Biodiversity Revisited initiative and the GAMES project (Governance and Accounting for the Management of Ecological Systems), contributing research expertise.
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research at University College LondonsignificantCollaborator on the Biodiversity Revisited initiative, contributing research and expertise on biodiversity and environment.
- International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)majorCommissioned by Luc Hoffmann Institute and WWF-Norway to inventory existing examples of funding models for community wildlife management beyond trophy hunting and tourism, as part of the initiative to identify new business models for community-based conservation.
- IUCN Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (IUCN SULi)majorPartner with IIED on the project to inventory models for community conservation, bringing expertise on sustainable use and livelihoods issues.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Unearthodox competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF): Global conservation NGO and historical partner of Unearthodox (formerly Luc Hoffmann Institute). Operates at much larger scale across the same conservation domain but as a broad incumbent rather than a niche innovation incubator.
- IUCN: International authority on biodiversity conservation and nature-based solutions. Core partner of Unearthodox and operates in the same conservation/policy space but with a vastly broader institutional mandate.
Direct peers
- Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship: Advances social entrepreneurship through a global community of innovators and partner organisations. Comparable as a multi-stakeholder platform supporting systems-change social innovators with convening and visibility.
- Luc Hoffmann Institute: Predecessor organisation to Unearthodox, established in 2015 as a conservation think tank. Directly comparable in mission, network, and programmes, and represents Unearthodox's institutional heritage and continuity.
- Ashoka: Global network that identifies and supports leading social entrepreneurs through fellowships and programmes. Highly comparable as a social-innovation convening and incubation platform operating across sectors and geographies.
- Echoing Green: Provides fellowships and seed funding to emerging social innovators and leaders. Comparable in identifying cohorts of early-stage change-makers and supporting them through structured incubation.
- Skoll Foundation: Funds and connects social entrepreneurs to scale solutions to pressing global challenges. Comparable mission of nurturing high-impact innovators through grantmaking and ecosystem-building, including Skoll World Forum convening.
- Climate-KIC: EU-backed climate innovation community running accelerator programmes and orchestrating cross-sector collaboration. Comparable as a thematic innovation intermediary using cohorts, incubation, and partner networks to surface and scale solutions.
- Future Earth: Global research network advancing sustainability science. Collaborated with Unearthodox on Biodiversity Revisited and is comparable as a multi-stakeholder platform convening researchers, innovators, and institutions around socio-environmental systems change.
Emerging players
- SystemIQ: Systems-change consultancy that designs and funds initiatives to transform food, land use, and circular economy systems. Comparable in its focus on systems change at the intersection of nature and society, though operates more as a builder/funder than a pure convener.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Unearthodox social profiles
Digital presenceUnearthodox financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Unearthodox leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Unearthodox funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Unearthodox M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Unearthodox
What does Unearthodox do?
Unearthodox is a non-profit social innovation organisation that runs three interconnected programmes (Regenerative Futures, Exploration Co-Lab, Creative Futures Spaces) to convene innovators, investors, and organisations around systems change at the intersection of nature and society. It selects cohorts and incubation initiatives through open calls, and produces publications such as the Anthology of Regenerative Futures.
Is Unearthodox a public or private company?
Unearthodox is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Unearthodox founded?
Unearthodox was founded in 2023. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Unearthodox based?
Unearthodox is headquartered in Versoix, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does Unearthodox make money?
One revenue line is on record: foundation/Grant Funding.
Who are Unearthodox's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and IUCN. Direct peers are Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Luc Hoffmann Institute, Ashoka, Echoing Green, Skoll Foundation, Climate-KIC and Future Earth. SystemIQ is listed as an emerging player.
Does Unearthodox have an API?
No public API is recorded for Unearthodox.