Seattle-based reforestation company DroneSeed has rebranded to Mast Reforestation and acquired Cal Forest Nurseries.
A Mast spokesperson said Cal Forest has 45 employees, all of whom are joining Mast, which now has roughly 130 full-time employees. The companies aren't disclosing the financial terms of the deal.
"The addition of Cal Forest will help us further carry out our mission of making reforestation scalable," Grant Canary, Mast founder and CEO, said in a news release. "We plan to execute more high-quality carbon removal credit projects, serve more communities and geographies across the Pacific Northwest and help more landowners get paid for restoring their land."
Although Mast is the new name of the parent company, it will continue to call the aerial reforestation arm of its business DroneSeed. In addition to Cal Forest, a reforestation nursery headquartered in Etna, California, Mast also owns the Pierce County-based seed company Silvaseed, which it bought in 2021. Owning seed companies along with its drone-based reforestation services makes Mast a more full-service reforestation company and allows the company to take on more projects, it said in the release.
The Mast spokesperson said the company plans to grow the Cal Forest business. The company doesn't have an estimate for when or if that growth would translate to more jobs. Cal Forest was founded in 1978 and offers over 30 types of seedlings.
Mast was founded in 2016. In addition to using drones to reforest after wildfires, the company also sells carbon credits after it reforests land. Mast raised a $36 million Series A round in September 2021. The company is focused on the western U.S. as well as British Columbia, New Zealand and Australia.
"For many years, Silvaseed and Cal Forest have collaborated — and even discussed combining operations — which is one of the many reasons that Mast felt like a great fit for us," Tom Jopson, Cal Forest's founder, said in a release. "They will contribute young energy, new perspectives and access to new financing."
