UPDATES
Vitality Founder Profiled in International Business Times
July 25, 2025 — Profile on Vitality Founder published in International Business Times.
“If the soil isn't healthy, if the water isn't clean, if the air isn't breathable: human systems, economies, and even human health collapse. If the phytoplankton communities in the ocean collapse and we can't breathe," Wallin says, "how much is your financial portfolio worth? It's worth zero."
That clarity gave birth to Vitality, an early-stage fund based on the Biophilia Hypothesis: the idea that humans are biologically and psychologically wired to thrive in connection with the natural world. Wallin began to build a thesis rooted in biomimicry, working with scientists to define a practical, investable lens: fund entrepreneurs whose technologies tap into nature's intelligence.
"We're talking about solutions that are resilient, circular, and energy-efficient by design," Wallin says. "From agriculture to the built environment to textile manufacturing, we're looking for people who are solving problems at the intersection of human and planetary health."
Link to full article: https://www.ibtimes.com/vitality-vision-natalya-wallins-full-circle-journey-investing-nature-inspired-innovation-3779469
Co-hosts first Vital Systems event in NYC
July 22, 2025 — Vitality was proud to co-host the first Vital Systems event in New York in partnership with GrantMatch, REFASHIOND Ventures, and the American Australian Association. This new series focuses on solving real problems in essential industries--food & agriculture, built environment, apparel... and doing it in a way that works with nature.
Vitality VF founder & GP Natalya Wallin spoke about the biomimicry lens we apply to identifying nature-inspired startups solving billion dollar problems. One part of the growing ecosystem to support founders in this space.
Shannon Parker, co-founder of ReefCycle shared an overview of their nature-inspired technology to produce cement at room temperature and the implications for energy efficiency, reduced production costs, resilience, and environmental health and biodiversity. Addressing real needs for our future cities and coastal communities in a way that is regenerative!
Ben Bickerstaff from GrantMatch shared the platform he is developing to ensure these kinds of deep tech and hard tech startups have access to sources of non-dilutive capital truly critical to support early-stage innovation and de-risk opportunities for investors. A much-needed resource for founders on this journey.
Vitality Invests in ReefCycle, nature-based cement startup
Investing in early-stage startup from the Ray of Hope Accelerator
April 21, 2024 — To kick off Earth Week, Vitality is thrilled to announce investment in ReefCycle and celebrates the founders, Mary Lempres and Shannon Parker.
ReefCycle is an early stage deep-tech startup based in North Carolina focused on decarbonizing the cement industry and building climate-resilient infrastructure. Their nature-inspired technology harnesses plant-based enzymes to mimic the biomineralization processes seen in shells and reefs, forming biocement and bioconcrete from upcycled waste and renewable resources.
This innovative approach eliminates the need for fossil fuels, mining, and industrial processing, while operating at room temperature, dramatically reducing the environmental impact of traditional cement production.
Vitality is proud to be an early investor in this startup as they complete the Biomimicry Institute Ray of Hope accelerator program.
"ReefCycle embodies the nature-inspired and climate resilient innovation we champion at the Ray of Hope Accelerator. We’re excited to see Vitality backing this work and helping push it forward." — Maëlys Renaud, Biomimicry Institute.
The nature-based approach draws from the discipline of biomimicry, a problem-solving method that relies on sharing function and structure with nature.
“We are thrilled to have such supportive and forward thinking partners in Vitality. They are setting a model for what early stage nature inspired and bio-mimetic investment needs to look like in the future.” — ReefCycle Founders.
Startups like this are tapping into 3.8 billion years of nature’s R&D to create technologies and solutions to some of our most pressing challenges today.
“Founders Mary Lempres and Shannon Parker are tackling challenges in the built environment in a way that is energy-efficient, resilient, and drives value in a massive market. We are proud to be one of ReefCycle’s first investors and part of the ecosystem that the Biomimicry Institute is fueling. This is a powerful example of the Vitality thesis in action.” — Natalya Wallin, Vitality Founder & GP.
Vitality Announces Collaboration with ASU Biomimicry Center and J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute
Pilot Program to fuel early-stage nature-based startups
September 23, 2024 — Vitality is a Fund focused on startups creating nature-based innovations. This fall, Vitality will work together with the Arizona State University Biomimicry Center and the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute on a new pilot program supporting faculty and student ventures building biomimicry, bio-inspired, and nature-based solutions to challenges in key industries including textiles, built environment, and health.
“Nature-based” solutions are innovations inspired by the way nature works and the way nature solves problems. Working with nature, human needs can be met with technology, processes, and systems that are biologically and ecologically compatible. The nature-based approach draws from the discipline of biomimicry, a problem-solving method that relies on sharing function and structure with nature, informed by the biology, physics, chemistry and overall design principles inherent in living things and natural ecosystems.
“Vitality is committed to working across disciplines and sectors to identify early-stage nature-based ventures in sectors like agriculture, apparel, and medicine. We often think of ourselves as separate from nature, but everything we consume, wear, and use impacts the health of the natural world and our bodies in turn. We need an entire ecosystem and movement of entrepreneurs and investors creating solutions that work with and respect the elegant systems and processes of nature. This collaboration with ASU is one important step in fueling that ecosystem,” said Natalya Wallin, Co-founder, Vitality.
The scientific and research talent at ASU, and its resources, will be teamed with insights from Vitality on what is needed to attract future investment and drive breakthroughs in nature-based solutions from academia to market. Selected ventures will engage in the pilot program this fall working with the Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute to prepare ventures for funding and future scale.
“Use-inspired research is a major focus at ASU, especially as it relates to sustainable innovation. Solutions that draw from natural models and are aligned with the design principles of living things have an edge. With a gift from the Nadathur Foundation, the Biomimicry Center at ASU is focused on lab-to-market efforts, working with other partners including the not-for-profit Biomimicry Institute and the Ray of Hope Accelerator to develop startups in the nature-based and biodesign space,” said Robin Berry, Assistant Director of the Biomimicry Center at ASU.
“The focus on entrepreneurship at ASU goes hand-in-hand with our culture of innovation. Partnering with venture funds such as Vitality is a natural evolution of our impact-focused innovation ecosystem,” said Tracey Dodenhoff, Vice President of Entrepreneurship + Innovation with Knowledge Enterprise at ASU. “Our mission-focused team within E+I is a responsive and agile conduit for dynamic partnerships between our researchers and the venture community, and it is exciting to be a part of this shared vision with the ASU Biomimicry Center and Vitality.”
About Vitality
Vitality is a venture fund investing in the essentials—agriculture, materials, and infrastructure. We use a biomimicry-based filter to identify early-stage startups that combine advancements in tech and apply nature’s R&D to solve pressing pressing problems today. We take this approach because we believe solutions that tap into nature’s intelligence will be more energy-efficient, resilient, circular and cost effective than other solutions in the market.