Seattle-based aerial reforestation startup DroneSeed on Wednesday announced a $36 million Series A.
The company said part of the funds went toward acquiring the Pierce County-based forestry company Silvaseed. The acquisition, announced in August, makes DroneSeed a more full-service reforestation company that can offer seed collection, seedling cultivation and drone-based seeding, according to DroneSeed.
“Recent data has shown that natural forest regeneration is in significant decline due to the size and severity of fires which destroy seed sources. Fire season is expected to only get worse because of climate change,” DroneSeed CEO Grant Canary said in a statement. “This funding round, coupled with the acquisition of Silvaseed, enables us to scale up the infrastructure needed for reforestation to meet this skyrocketing demand and customer need."
In a release, DroneSeed said it plans to double its reforestation capacity by the middle of next year, and the money will help the company respond to the 2021 fire season by taking on more reforestation projects. On its website, the company has open roles in engineering, finance and research science, among others.
DroneSeed, founded in 2016, uses drones to reforest after wildfires. According to the company, it can drop seeds 30 days after a fire, and the company sells carbon credits after it reforests land. Silvaseed, which has kept its brand, offers seeds and seed processing.
DroneSeed's Series A comes as forest fires continue to ravage the U.S. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there have been 46,091 large fires so far this year, compared with 44,161 during the same time period last year. Fires this year have burned over 5.9 million acres, the agency said.
Social Capital and Seven Seven Six led the round. Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, Resilience Reserve and Marc Benioff’s Time Ventures, among others, participated.
“DroneSeed is using technology to restore forests faster and help save our planet,” Katelin Holloway, founding partner at Seven Seven Six, said in a statement. “DroneSeed has recruited fantastic talent from diverse communities and disciplines, and we are thrilled to support them as they take on an incredibly important global challenge: climate change.”
