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Today’s interview is with Vinay Kulkarni, CEO & Co-Founder of Thryve.Earth.
What is Thryve.Earth?
"What is Thryve.Earth, and what makes your approach to NbS projects stand out from others in this rapidly growing space?"
Thryve is a tech-enabled project developer focused on delivering large-scale, high-integrity nature-based solutions (NbS) that create real, measurable climate and community impact. We work in close partnership with landowners, local communities, and capital partners to design and implement afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) projects that regenerate ecosystems and generate high-quality carbon credits.
We don't see peers as rivals but as allies in urgent regeneration. We often say that to meet the scale of the challenge, the planet needs many Thryve-like organizations. Most of our peers would agree to the age-old saying, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now". We need a lot more action on the ground - now.
That's why our focus is on building scalable solutions. Scaling is essential - not just to meet climate goals, but to protect what communities and ecosystems depend on. But scale doesn't happen on its own - execution matters. While the sector has long been driven by passionate individuals, scaling requires structure. We embed clear governance, operational rigour, and risk management into every project-ensuring consistency and accountability without losing the care and intention that define nature-first work.
Ensuring Lasting Impact
"How do you ensure that NbS projects deliver tangible, measurable, and lasting impact on both climate and biodiversity?"
Tangible and lasting impact is fundamental to a project's success. Measurable outcomes make that impact real, trusted, and investable.
We're very careful to avoid the trap of "carbon tunnel vision" - chasing credits without fully restoring ecosystems or engaging people. In contrast to this, we place stakeholders - landowners, farmers, local communities, and capital partners - at the core from day one. By aligning incentives, responsibilities, and long-term goals, we ensure each project is grounded in local realities and built to endure. This deep stakeholder engagement is what makes impact tangible and lasting - delivering benefits beyond carbon.
Our projects are powered by a digital backbone that's built for scale, transparency, and trust. By integrating deep fieldwork with digital innovation, we make credible, lasting regeneration measurable.. Three core systems ensure every Thryve project delivers measurable, lasting impact:
- D-MRV Stack – for eligibility, dynamic carbon and biodiversity monitoring, and impact quantification
- Ops Engine – for streamlined execution, farmer engagement, and transparent benefit-sharing
- Intelligence Hub – for real-time insights, due diligence, and investor-grade reporting
Case Study
"Unlike a lot of companies in the space, Thryve goes beyond the usual approach by actively engaging with NbS project sites right from the start of a partnership. This hands-on involvement aims to enhance livelihoods, reduce risks, and protect investments. Can you share a powerful story of a project that has brought about a lasting, positive transformation in a local community?"
While we're in the early stages of our projects, we have a clear vision of the positive transformation we aim to create in the communities we work with. Our approach to NbS goes beyond carbon credits - it's focused on ecosystem regeneration and empowering local communities.
In our North Sulawesi project, we're working with smallholder farmers and communities to lay the foundations for long-term regeneration. Farmers here have faced mounting challenges from years of deforestation and degradation - by introducing regenerative practices this project seeks to rebuild soil health, reconnect ecosystems, and strengthen climate resilience. A key focus will be on revitalizing water sources around the Masarang mountain area, supporting long-term environmental and community well-being.
We're inspired by the momentum already building - and confident that the work we're doing today will lead to long-term benefits for both people and planet, and offer a more resilient future for generations to come.
See more details about our North Sulawesi project here.
Technological Innovation
"What technological innovations are you most excited about in the next 2-3 years that will support NbS carbon projects?"
Over the next few years, a wave of practical technology will reshape how nature-based carbon projects are developed & scaled:
Digital field operations tools are quickly replacing spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups. Today, field staff can log planting activity with GPS-tagged photos and sync it directly to dashboards that track nursery output, payments to local workers, and planting progress across 100s of hectares. This kind of visibility is crucial for scaling reliably in remote areas.
Measuring co-benefits like biodiversity and livelihoods is becoming more data-driven. In one project, acoustic sensors track bird and insect activity as a sign of ecosystem recovery. Elsewhere, community surveys linked to digital tools are helping quantify household income and food security changes, so the social impact is as visible as the carbon.
AI tools are cutting down bottlenecks in early development. Drafting a PDD used to take 3 to 6 months. Now, with LLMs trained on registry templates, early versions can be created in a few weeks. AI is also helping translate field data into clear, investor-ready insights.
Remote sensing continues to evolve rapidly, with new combinations of optical, radar, and LiDAR data offering clearer insights than ever before. When paired with better machine learning models and open datasets, these tools are helping assess eligibility, monitor performance, and quantify impact more accurately across diverse landscapes.
Investor Advice
"What advice would you give to first-time investors looking to get involved in NbS projects?"
Start by getting really clear on your goals - are you looking for impact, financial returns, carbon credits, or a mix of all three? The clearer you are upfront, the easier it'll be to find the right kind of project or partner.
Then, spend time understanding how quality is being defined and measured. Not all projects are created equal, and a lot depends on the underlying design - the species being planted, how the land is managed, how the communities are engaged, and how outcomes like biodiversity, water health, and carbon sequestration are being tracked over time. Strong projects don't just promise credits; they deliver lasting, measurable benefits across ecosystems and communities.
It's critical to work with people who know the space and have boots on the ground. These projects are complex - ecologically, socially, and financially - and execution matters. Make sure you're working with developers who are transparent about their methods, and who view long-term stewardship as core to the work, not just a box to tick.
And finally - ask questions! Good partners should welcome scrutiny. They should be open about risks, governance structures, financial flows, and how they course-correct when things don't go to plan. Nature-based solutions aren't one-and-done investments - they're long-term commitments. The more you dig in now, the more confidence you'll have that your investment is driving real, lasting change.
Market Expansion
"Are there any major markets or regions where Thryve plans to scale its presence in the near future?"
Today, our primary focus is on Indonesia and India - two countries with immense potential for high-impact regeneration. Both countries boast rich biodiversity, deep traditions of land stewardship, and urgent needs for climate resilience finance.
Looking ahead, we're actively evaluating additional geographies that share the right conditions. Wherever we expand, our approach remains the same: putting stakeholders at the center, designing nature-first projects, and executing with rigor to unlock scale and deliver measurable climate and biodiversity gains.
Into The Future
"What's the biggest challenge facing CDR's nature-based solutions, and what is required to scale and solve them in 2025?
One of the biggest challenges is that scaling nature-based carbon removal takes early conviction - and that's often the hardest part. There's a real appetite to support the scale work, but many are waiting on proof before they commit, even though that proof can only come from doing the work together. It's a classic chicken-and-egg situation.
What's needed is a willingness to lean in early - to back the right projects, invest in building trust, and show what good looks like through thoughtful execution, strong governance, and deep local partnerships. When high-quality outcomes are demonstrated, even at a small scale, they build the confidence needed to unlock larger, faster investment.
At Thryve, we're focused on doing the work the right way from the start - funding what's needed early, staying grounded where the projects are, and partnering closely with communities. That's how we build a future where nature-based solutions scale with both integrity and momentum.
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