Spreading like Wildfire: The Forest Tech Landscape 2023
We’re excited to share our Forest Management & Wildfire Technology Market Map, highlighting 50+ startups building across these vital segments. To request this map for download, reach out here.
The forest tech landscape is experiencing a burst of innovation and extraordinary growth. The governmental agencies, timberland managers and private landowners who manage our forests are facing a growing array of challenges stemming from climate change and a legacy of misguided forest management.
In response, a diverse array of technologists and business leaders are stepping up to offer support. Together these trailblazers are forging crucial new solutions to tackle the burning issues facing our wildlands.
We hope that our industry exploration expands your horizons and stokes even broader stakeholder cooperation in service of better understanding, managing and protecting our forests and forestland communities.
Why Now?
The sense of urgency propelling forest & wildfire tech innovation is underscored by the escalating wildfire problem in California. Eight of the ten largest fires in the state’s recorded history occurred since 2017 (source), along with three of the five deadliest (source) and six of the ten most destructive (source). These are sobering statistics.
Frontline workers and emergency response personnel are stretched thin and solutions-minded builders and innovators are heeding the call to support them. The federal government has added more fuel to the fire through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which complement each other to allocate extraordinary funding - $10B+ combined - to projects tackling challenges related to forest and wildfire management.
Check out the building momentum in the graph below, which overlays 10+ years of data covering two trends:
Total acreage burned in California, and
The count of fire tech-related companies founded.
The graph above includes projects focused principally on wildfire solutions technology. The map below covers that sector plus the broader forest management space.
As the pace of growth in these closely-tied industries continues to accelerate, we see value in taking a step back to capture a foundational snapshot of the space.
Market Map: Forest Management and Fire Tech, 2023
The map below includes 50+ innovative startups alongside relevant gold-standard incumbents. Below it, you’ll find an overview of the main categories we’ve mapped within the forest and fire tech landscape, highlighting key innovations and industry trends while unpacking our methodology.
Fire Tech
a. Response
Rapid and thorough response is critical for mitigating the worst effects of forest fires. Wildfire response innovations include firefighting equipment such as drones, durable sensors, and high-speed communication & alert systems. Rain Industries, for example, aims to contain high-risk wildfires early by utilizing a network of autonomous aircraft. Squishy Robotics helps first responders gather vital data in dangerous environments through the use of highly durable sensors. These technologies are enabling faster responses to hard-to-reach areas and streamlining community safety & evacuation protocols. More efficient wildfire response can mean fewer frontline workers in harm’s way and less impact on local communities and ecosystems.
b. Detection
Early detection of wildfires enables more effective management and response strategies, which can be crucial in preventing a small fire from escalating into a high-intensity inferno. Wildfire detection innovations include satellite imagery and alternative sensors and cameras such as thermal imaging. For example, Pano AI’s technology analyzes satellite and aerial images in real-time, using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, to detect wildfires early and alert emergency response teams. In an environment where data is scarce and every minute counts, leveraging real-time tools like computer vision can be a game-changer; each wildfire is unique but a blaze can double in size every ten minutes or sooner in some circumstances (source: L. Johnson, Paradise).
c. Defense
Advances in fire defense technologies are helping to proactively fortify land and assets to prevent the spread of forest fires and minimize damage. Wildfire defense innovations include software products to streamline defensible space inspections and data monitoring and analytics platforms to detect potential danger early. For example, Overstory is building technology to identify trees encroaching on power lines, enabling more precise infrastructure risk management. Additionally, research is being conducted on the use of smart materials and coatings that can self-extinguish or resist ignition.
Insurance startups and incumbents are also developing products and risk management strategies specifically tailored for the forestry sector and communities living at the edge of the wildland urban interface. These policies cover damages from forest fires, incentivize sustainable forestry practices, and promote responsible land management. The industry is also leveraging advanced data analytics and remote sensing technologies to assess risks more accurately and provide customized insurance solutions. Kettle, for example, is utilizing data science enabled by artificial intelligence to build out tools and services that will allow them to be a reinsurance underwriter for insurers.
Forest Health
a. Forest Management
Forest and vegetation management tools are crucial for preserving the health and sustainability of forests. In the American West and other regions around the world, low-intensity wildfires once occurred at semi-regular intervals and effectively reduced forests’ biomass fuel load, lowering their vulnerability to catastrophic high-intensity blazes. Mechanical thinning is one effective method of reducing fuel load, but forest management organizations are having difficulty scaling quickly to meet the immense challenge. The forest management industry is highly fragmented, particularly in California, and existing players consistently list "finding skilled employees" as a primary concern. Kodama is developing technology to address this challenge by automating machinery and optimizing on-the-ground operations to rapidly accelerate thinning project timelines.
b. Carbon Removal
Carbon removal is a rapidly evolving field characterized by dynamic experimentation and innovative approaches. Creative entrepreneurs are working on a wide range of projects with varying goals and potential impacts. Our mental model around carbon removal splits up these projects into three main categorizations:
i. Long-Duration Carbon Removal (>1,000 years)
Permanent solutions are defined as projects that can prove beyond reasonable doubt to remove carbon for 1,000+ years. Carbon removal technologies focused on utilizing low-value biomass harvested from forests (a form of carbon capture via photosynthesis) coupled with geologic storage for millennium-scale carbon storage (i.e., injection of carbon dioxide into storage sites, or biomass burial) are gaining traction. Long-duration carbon removal innovations include Kodama’s wood vaults, Charm’s bio-oil sequestration technology, and Mote’s novel approach to bio-hydrogen production coupled with carbon capture and storage.
ii. Medium-Duration Carbon Removals (100-1,000 years)
Medium-duration projects remove carbon beyond the lifetime of anyone alive today. Biochar production with agricultural amendment likely falls somewhere in this ‘medium term’ (100 to 1000 year) category. Examples include Pacific Biochar, which uses a plant facility to convert harvested biomass to biochar for agricultural soil application, and Takachar, which has patented portable equipment that converts waste biomass into biochar for various applications.
iii. Short-Duration Carbon Offsets and Removals (<100 years)
Due to the complexities in establishing counterfactual scenarios and the challenges associated with monitoring and verification processes, short-duration carbon removals have come under scrutiny as an effective means of financing forest conservation and restoration efforts. However, there are high-quality short-duration carbon removals and offsets available that are able to prove that their projects either avoid emissions that would have otherwise occurred or create additional photosynthetic demand. (carbon)plan, a non-profit that analyzes climate solutions based on the best available science and data, is an invaluable third-party resource for evaluating the integrity of carbon removal and offset projects.
c. Carbon Management & Marketplaces
Carbon management firms are working to develop strategies to help their customers reach net-zero. These companies help customers understand their emissions profiles, assess what constitutes high-quality carbon removal, and develop portfolios of emissions reductions plus short- and long-duration carbon removal, or carbon offsets. Watershed offers these services through a carbon accounting platform - for tracking emissions - coupled with a marketplace for purchasing carbon credits produced by removal projects.
d. Reforestation
The need for reforestation innovation is growing as wildfires continue to burn more acres at greater intensity. New projects promise advancements in drone-assisted planting, seed ball technology, and genetic enhancements for tree seedlings. For example, Terraformation is pioneering new technology-enabled resources for land restoration teams, including tools for project support, training, and biomass tracking software. Mast Reforestation offers forestry teams aerial drone-based seeding in addition to other services. These innovations are making it faster, cheaper, and more efficient to restore degraded forests and establish new ones.
e. Data Management and Visibility
Data management and visibility solutions are playing an increasingly important role in forest health management and collaborative planning. Innovations in this category include new data analytics applications for deriving vegetation structure and classification from disparate data sources, machine learning algorithms for predicting forest health outcomes, and user-friendly software platforms for visualizing and analyzing forest health data. For example, Vibrant Planet is building tools that enable local communities, the US Forest Service, and nonprofits to more effectively collaborate on aspects of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) approval process, which can take years. Tools like those Vibrant Planet are building are fostering more communication and cooperation between federal, state, and local organizations so they can make better decisions faster.
What’s Next?
The forest health and fire technology landscape is dynamic and rapidly developing. Momentum has only grown this year, propelled by groundbreaking innovations and a growing awareness of the importance of preserving and managing our forests effectively.
Many forest tech startups aim to complement and assist existing players, rather than disrupt them. For example, Kodama works directly with landowners, forest managers, OEMs and biomass teams to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration. As the industry continues to evolve, the adoption of new forest & wildfire technologies will help ensure the long-term health and sustainability of forests and communities around the world.
Thanks for reading. Have questions or suggestions? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!
Want More?
If you’re looking for more inspiration or edification, check these out:
Forestry Tech, by our friend Pete Mathias at Alumni Ventures
The work of Malcolm North - intro here
The work of Matthew Hurteau
Project Drawdown’s Supporting Sinks & Improving Society video in their Climate Resources 101 course (Kodama’s purview falls within “temperate forest restoration”)
Lizzie Johnson’s book, “Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire”