43 - From Marketing to Marshlands: How a Climate Startup Raised €1M to Restore Wetlands

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This Might Just Work - Ideas for a Tired Planet

Rob Wreglesworth

48 episodes

1 week ago

We are all tired of environmental doom, guilt, and greenwash. But tired is not the end. It is the moment to wake up and build something better. Hosted by Rob Wreglesworth, This Might Just Work explores bold, practical ideas for fixing a tired planet. Each episode shares honest conversations with founders, innovators, scientists, and creators who are turning environmental concern into real-world action. If you care about climate innovation, sustainability, regenerative business, or nature-based solutions, this podcast will give you hope, energy, and ideas you can use.

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43 - From Marketing to Marshlands: How a Climate Startup Raised €1M to Restore Wetlands - Alex Kornelsen, Mission to Marsh

This Might Just Work - Ideas for a Tired Planet

1 hour 6 minutes 3 seconds

6 months ago

43 - From Marketing to Marshlands: How a Climate Startup Raised €1M to Restore Wetlands - Alex Kornelsen, Mission to Marsh

In this episode, I speak with Alex Kornelsen — a former startup and innovation strategist who left the corporate world to co-found Mission to Marsh, a storytelling-led non-profit restoring wetlands and rebranding peatlands as climate heroes.

We talk about how it all started with a Tinder date and a one-sentence peatland pitch, and go deep into what it takes to launch a mission-driven organisation from scratch — from faking a film to raise €50K, to securing Patagonia support, to building a community using marketing, humour, and open storytelling.

Whether you’re looking to launch something planet-positive or just curious about how skills from marketing and innovation can be redirected for nature — this episode is packed with insights, honesty, and energy.

00:00 Intro
01:00 From Tinder to Peatlands — how it all began
04:00 The one-sentence pitch that changed everything
06:45 Why a documentary came before the non-profit
09:30 How they raised €1M and got Patagonia’s support
13:00 Behind the scenes of making the film
16:40 The power of storytelling in conservation
20:10 “Fake it till you make it” — lessons from launching
25:30 From GoFundMe to corporate partnerships
30:00 AI + grant writing: how they raised €20K in 30 minutes
32:00 Why LinkedIn beat Instagram for traction
36:45 Personal branding in nature restoration
40:15 Disrupting the non-profit model
44:00 Co-founding with your life partner — the real talk
50:00 Starting a for-profit arm with peatland tech
57:00 Final thoughts on optimism, failure, and what nature teaches us
01:00:45 The billboard quote, book recommendation & business idea

👉 Connect with Alex Kornelsen on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/k0rnelsen/

👉 Explore Mission to Marsh and watch the film
https://missiontomarsh.org/

📷 Follow the Mission on Instagram and LinkedIn to see where the film is touring next.

🛠️ Interested in building your own planet-positive venture?
Check out The Startup Diaries episodes — where I document the behind-the-scenes journey of building No Longer Known, a new nature-led brand from scratch.

Subscribe on your favourite platform and come along for the ride.