Flash Forest Completes $11.4 Million Series A Round to Support Reforestation Using Drones and AI

Toronto-based, Flash Forest, has completed an $11.4 million CAD Series A funding round. Flash Forest is an aerial reforestation company that uses technologies such as drones, Artificial Intelligence, Geographic Information Systems, and plant science technology to automate the manual processes involved in reforestation to help fight the impacts of climate change. The use of these technologies has allowed Flash Forest to bring new levels of accuracy, precision and speed to the reforestation industry. Flash Forest’s goal is to plant one billion trees by 2028.

The Series A funding round was co-led by the TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good and OurCrowd, an online global venture investing platform. Flash Forest will use the capital raised to expand the Company’s post-wildfire reforestation solution across North America.

In addition to the Series A funding round, Flash Forest entered into a multi-year commercial agreement with TELUS’s sustainability and environmental team. Through this partnership, TELUS will offer Flash Forest’s drone-planted trees to its clients.

Flash Forest uses seedpods which are comprised of tree seeds, water-retention additives, beneficial bacteria and fungi, mineral and nutrients and a healthy growth medium conditioner. The seedpods are self-sustaining which gives the seedlings a jump start on the critical first few years of life. The Company claims it can mass produce over 200,000 seedpods per day, which eliminates the energy-intensive nursery phase normally required in tree planting. Due to the compact size of the seedpods, Flash Forest is also able to reduce waste and energy in the transportation process.

In regards to the Company’s drones, Flash Forest is equipped with deployers which are able to embed seedpods beneath the soil surface, eliminating the need for site prep and further expediting the reforestation process.

Flash Forest believes it will be able to reach its goal of planting one billion trees by 2028 by automating the manufacturing and deployment of its seedpods.

Author: Cole Brown, 2022/2023 Articling Student-At-Law