From the Team

If we ever turn a profit, where should some of it go?

Not a live program — just an early question

Veld isn't profitable. Worth saying up front, because everything below could read like a pledge, and it isn't one. It's a question we want to figure out while there's nothing riding on the answer, instead of deciding it quietly later once there is.

We didn't build the species data ourselves

The species records, regional lists, and most of the reference photos in Veld come from GBIF's open biodiversity database. A huge chunk of what's in GBIF comes from iNaturalist's community — millions of people logging what they've seen. We're a paid product built on top of work a lot of unpaid people did.

What we haven't decided

Once Veld makes real money, some of it should go back — that part we're sure of. Where, we're not. The data is one debt (iNaturalist), but it's not the only one: the wildlife people are photographing in Veld is the same wildlife conservation groups are trying to keep alive, and the species records themselves only stay accurate because researchers keep doing the work. So the options we're actually weighing are:

• iNaturalist — fund the data commons directly
• Conservation organisations — habitat and anti-poaching work on the ground
• Research funding — biodiversity and species-monitoring science more broadly
• Genuinely undecided — ask us again once there's real money on the table

Tell us what you think — in the app

We're asking this one inside Veld. Open the app, go to Settings → Give your take, and you'll see the poll. We'll read every response and, if we end up making any profit, we'll post a follow-up here with what we heard and what we chose.

Don't have Veld yet? Grab it below.