In just over 100 years, the world lost as much forest as it had in the last 9,000 years, according to a report by research and data firm Our World in Data. The report further showed that Earth loses an average of 26 million hectares of trees yearly — an alarming number by all metrics. To put it in context, that’s an area roughly the size of Mexico’s entire arable land, lost annually. Unfortunately, wildfires (mostly caused by human beings) are a leading cause of deforestation worldwide, accounting for over 30% of global deforestation rates.
With wildfires damaging the global forest every year, many organizations are rising to stop this harmful disruption of Earth’s ecosystem with cutting-edge technology. One such company is Flash Forest, a Canada-based reforestation company whose mission “merges UAV technology, automation, and ecological science to reforest post-wildfire areas on a global scale,” according to the company’s website.
In its quest to “reimagine reforestation,” the company recently nabbed $11.4 million (CAD) — which is approximately $8.52 million (USD) — in a funding round spearheaded by Israel’s leading venture capital (VC) firm OurCrowd and Canadian telecoms giant TELUS. Through its Pollinator Fund for Good initiative, this new funding will help to support the development and expansion of Flash Forest’s rapid post-wildfire reforestation solution throughout North America in the fight against climate change.
Stemming the deforestation tide with technology
Drone operator operating a drone
Source: Flash Forest
When wildfires or other deforestation activities of note occur, the response is usually planting new trees. However, tree-planting processes across the world are often crude and rudimentary. Planting by hand and shovel is a laborious method that’s difficult and quite challenging in terrains with limited accessibility.
Canada’s largest drone reforestation company, Flash Forest, aims to replenish the world’s forests by using technology to stem the tide of deforestation. According to Cameron Jones, the company’s COO and Co-founder, Flash Forest is “actually going to be breaking some world records for the largest number of trees ever planted by drone,” and “we are going to redefine how reforestation is done over the next century,” he adds.
Flash Forest prioritizes a data-driven, biodiversity-centric, and community-led approach to rebuilding healthy resilient forests at scale. By leveraging drones, artificial intelligence (AI), geographic information system (GIS), and plant science technology, the startup claims it brings new levels of accuracy, precision, and speed to the reforestation industry.
Speaking at the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit in February, Jones noted that Flash Forest is very effective at using technology to reforest the planet and uses machine learning to log trees, as the startup is “not okay with the narrative that it’s going to be a dire future.” He also presented the seed pod, which he claimed is about 350% more effective in helping seeds thrive even in drought conditions.
What the funding will do
Flash Forest CEO Bryce Jones
Source: Flash Forest
In a press release, Bryce Jones, CEO and Co-founder of Flash Forest, said: “We have partnered with a significant social impact fund that doesn’t simply act with a profit-first mindset like many VCs, but clearly identifies with and supports our mission of 1 billion trees and beyond to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. This makes a difference, especially in challenging times, where our clear alignment on the execution of the mission comes before all else. In addition to TELUS’ environmental leadership and steadfast commitment to becoming a zero-waste and net carbon-neutral company by 2030, there are enormous internal resources and support that make this an extremely exciting and mutual partnership. We’re ready to dive in and can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
“The world has lost over 1 trillion trees in the last 100 years and wildfires have been taking a growing part in that. We are excited to join forces with Flash Forest on their mission and to co-lead this round with the TELUS Pollinator Fund supporting rapid post-wildfire reforestation needed to fight climate change,” added Liat Sverdlov, Investment Partner at OurCrowd.
Flash Forest has raised a total funding of $9.92 million (USD) in over five rounds since it was founded in 2019.