Making underwater forestry scalable and sustainable, with Andrew Morgan of Hydrowood

Today's episode is a tangible example of a company in the "natural capital" space. While not traditional agtech, the Hydrowood journey hits familiar themes: building a business within nature's constraints, managing capital intensity, and the frustrating search for the right investors.

Andrew Morgan watched the Pieman River in Tasmania dam in the 1970s. In 1986, Lake Pieman flooded, submerging centuries-old forests. Many years later, he and co-founder David Wise spotted trees protruding from the dark water- large quantities of native species like Huon Pine, Tasmanian Myrtle, and Sassafras.

The timber was salvageable, but they needed underwater logging technology that wouldn't disturb the lake's ecosystem. This led to the founding of Hydrowood. Today, the business has attracted millions in investment and high-end brand partnerships, but the journey has been far from easy.

In this episode, guest host Adam Taylor, Insights Lead at Tenacious, and Andrew Morgan discuss:

• Why the Hydrowood narrative captivates investors and media
• Trading off custom versus standard machinery to lower financial risk
• Pivoting to crowdfunding when traditional investment proved difficult
• The future of sustainable and ethical forestry

Andrew is also the Managing Director of SFM, an asset manager for large-scale plantation estates and carbon project developer.

Useful Links:

• The economics of valuing natural capital, with Ken Henry
• Hydrowood featured in first global flagship store by R.M Williams
• Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme | Clean Energy Regulator
• OnMarket crowd-sourced funding
• Forest Economics Congress, MONA

For more information and resources, visit our website.

The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.