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The company will use some of the funding to advance its wildfire suppression project, which uses autonomous drones and acoustic waves.
Dryad Networks, a start-up that develops wildfire detection technology, has bagged a multimillion-euro funding boost.
The Berlin-based start-up has been awarded a total of €6.3m in funding, with €3.8m coming from the European Regional Development Fund and €2.5m from climate investor, First Imagine.
Founded in 2020 by Carsten Brinkschulte, Marco Boenig, and Cherian Mathew, Dryad Networks has developed an early wildfire detection and forest monitoring system, which uses solar-powered, AI-driven networks.
Using the latest funding, the German start-up will advance the development of its wildfire suppression project, titled ‘Florian’, an autonomous drone-based system designed to combat wildfires at their inception using fire suppression technology, such as acoustic waves.
It will also continue to scale its Silvanet detection platform, which has been deployed in more than 20 countries across the US, Europe, Asia and Australasia with 20,000 sensors shipped to date.
Brinkschulte, CEO and co-founder of Dryad Networks, said the new funding from both the EU grant and First Imagine will help the start-up to “revolutionise wildfire management”.
“Our vision is not only to detect wildfires at their earliest stages, but also to suppress them quickly, minimising damage to communities, ecosystems and infrastructure,” he said.
Boris Dorin, a partner at First Imagine, said the start-up’s “groundbreaking approach” is exactly the kind of technology the investment firm seeks to support.
“As wildfires grow in intensity and frequency due to climate change, the need for scalable, proactive solutions has never been more urgent. We are excited to partner with Dryad Networks in their mission to protect critical ecosystems and build a more resilient, sustainable future.”
In 2022, the Dryad Networks scored €10.5m in Series A funding in a round led by eCapital. Additional investors included Toba Capital, Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures and Semtech.
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