Nature isn’t just a cause.
It’s an asset class.
Tech disrupted, innovated, and got smart to the point of eating itself with AI.
Now the smartest money is chasing the one asset AI cannot code: Nature.
“Price is what you pay,
Value is what you get.”
-Warren Buffett
The time has finally come to put nature’s value on the balance sheet.
“The valuation of nature is coming and nobody will be able to stop it, because nobody will be able to value anything else without it.”
Joana Picq
Revisioning Nature Capital
Seeds, plants, trees, and entire species already feature as assets on balance sheets, independent from the land they stand on.
The systems to assetise nature already exist.
What’s missing isn’t the framework… it’s the courage to value the natural systems that sustain our economies.
By structuring and investing in Nature Assets we become equity partners with nature stewards while allowing them to raise capital to scale their conservation efforts.
We partner with other nature asset holders to kindle the biodiversity economy through the transaction of nature currencies, focusing on defining and pricing real, verifiable nature outcomes.
We measure the size and value of our nature assets using auditable protocols for field data collection, combined with cutting-edge technology to assess ecosystem condition and trajectory over time.
Why |XAU?
|XAU was founded on the belief that nature is a strategic store of wealth — like gold or art, only far more productive and valuable.
IXAU is an Indigenous Khoi San word that means ‘to go on a magical expedition’. It also carries within it XAU — the symbol used to trade gold in financial markets.
The name IXAU points to nature’s value as something as precious as gold — while reminding us that its richest value lies in the ecosystems we can explore, not merely in the fragments we can hold in our hands.
Joana has always been driven by innovation and value creation - after Silicon Valley lost its disruptive spirit she decided to move into the next BIG thing: Nature.
Through IXAU she is weaving nature and finance together into a new paradigm - one where communities and investors get returns for protecting the nature that underpins our global GDP.
Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities (IPLCs)
We believe conservation can only thrive if those who live on and off the land are recognised and rewarded for their efforts to protect its biodiversity.
As part of |XAU governance, we prioritise indigenous peoples' consultation for free prior and informed consent, recognising their unique knowledge of how to care for the entire ecosystem. The involvement of local communities ensures that adjacent lands also benefit, as people working in the region become more empowered to care for its biodiversity across roles within multiple industries.
|XAU creates "Steward Funds" to share part of our revenue with those working on the land we've invested in, directly contributing to its biodiversity conservation.
Additionally, |XAU Governance enforces that our technology partners, investors and corporate buyers have no history of exploiting indigenous peoples, fostering a respectful and sustainable collaboration that can endure over time.
Our mission is to put biodiversity on the Balance Sheet
in time to secure a future for humanity.
Existing Partners
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![Onçafari (Brazil)]()
Onçafari (Brazil)
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![Pivotal]()
Pivotal
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![Instituto LIFE]()
LIFE Institute
About us
|XAU is rooted in the Ubuntu philosophy of interdependence.
“I am because you are, you are because I am.” In nature, as in life, every element depends on the health of the whole. Biodiversity is not a luxury — it is the living system that holds us.
|XAU was founded by tech entrepreneur Joana Picq who left Silicon Valley to find the next high growth space in need of innovation - Nature Finance.
The company stands at a unique intersection of expertise and purpose — blending Joana’s entrepreneurial energy and vision, her husband Jonathan Rossouw’s deep knowledge of wildlife and wild spaces, and her sister Manuela Picq’s lifelong commitment to Indigenous rights, particularly the rights of Indigenous women.
Together, they bring a rare synthesis of capital strategy, ecological understanding, and cultural integrity.
Our mission is to secure humanity’s place in nature’s future.
By investing in nature, we transform conservation from a cost into an asset — a place to store value, grow returns, and build intergenerational wealth.
We enable investors to hold their wealth in reserves their grandchildren will thank them for.
Any asset can perform returns, but none will be of value to future generations if they’ve come at the cost of natural ecosystems.
We support companies in de-risking their future by rewarding verified ecological outcomes — stepping into the emerging biodiversity market with real integrity.
We envision a world where nature becomes the ultimate reserve, replacing static assets like gold with living systems that support human life and economic continuity on a planet that could easily outlive us.