AirSeed Drone
- Series A Funding round launched to support and scale a game-changing environmental restoration company (https://airseedtech.com/), which uses drones and biotech to restore lost biodiversity at a scale far greater and cheaper than traditional methods
- Key milestones achieved include signing a first large-scale contract with a leading impact investment manager who is working to establish a carbon sequestration fund of up to $200M
- Board appointment of highly experienced climate transition and business specialist Mara Bún strengthens foundations for ongoing success as rapid growth continues.
SYDNEY, Australia, March 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Environmental restoration disruptor AirSeed Technologies today announced it is partnering with leading impact investment manager Conscious Investment Management (CIM) as it establishes a carbon sequestration fund of up to $200M, one of the largest of its kind.
Key cornerstone impact partner to CIM as it establishes an up to $200M carbon sequestration fund
AirSeed and CIM expect the restoration and carbon sequestration projects to generate meaningful upfront revenue for AirSeed over the next five years in service provider revenue to conduct planting.
This is AirSeed’s first large-scale contract with a leading impact investment manager and will be key to creating one of its largest carbon sequestration funds. It validates our value proposition for the large-scale application of our hyper-productive planting solution.
Series A funding to drive transformational opportunity
To support this, AirSeed is launching its Series A capital raise to provide additional funds to execute this milestone contract and scale the business to maximise on this transformative opportunity.
AirSeed is already partnering with iconic Australian brands. AirSeed is collaborating as Telstra's technology and service provider to establish environmental plantings for a 240-hectare project which will capture approximately 160,000 tons of carbon over 25 years. AirSeed is also working with Treasury Wine Estates’ brand St Hubert’s The Stag to plant 100,000 seed pods this year.
Highly respected climate transition and business specialist joins Board.
AirSeed has also confirmed highly respected climate transition and business specialist Mara Bún as the latest addition to the Board. Ms. Bún has a long track record in climate, nature, and impact campaigns and solutions. She is Chair of Australian Impact Investments and a non-executive Director of Australian Ethical Investments and GreenCollar, Australia’s largest environmental markets investor.
Ms. Bún’s extensive global experience and expertise across corporates and sustainability build on the existing expertise and connections of the AirSeed Board. With a background leading ESG finance, impact capital, carbon market, and climate/nature innovation, She is Chair of Australian Impact Investments, Chair of The Bowerbird Collective, Non-executive Director of Australian Ethical Investments and GreenCollar and Founder of tech scale-up advisory group The Salmon Project. She led Business Development for CSIRO and internet equities research for Macquarie Bank.
There’s a growing demand for AirSeed’s rapid-response large-scale reforestation and revegetation solutions. With AirSeed’s world-first individual and business sustainability memberships1, the Board is determined to capture this accelerating global appetite to tackle climate change head-on. AirSeed’s ability to provide partnering businesses and individuals with objective, transparent evidence of impact and support entry into carbon and nature markets is also a growing focus.
AirSeed is on track to achieve 100 million pods planted by 2024, including via projects that were too large and too expensive to tackle until now. Pilot projects already underway in Australia across Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland cover more than 650 hectares, including one of Australia's largest environmental planting.
Quotes attributable to AirSeed CEO & Co-Founder Andrew Walker
“Securing an agreement to work with CIM as it establishes one of the largest carbon sequestration funds of this type is an important validation of our value proposition for large-scale application of our solution and brings us significantly closer to our 100 million planting goal by 2024.”
“AirSeed is currently in dialogue with several corporate investors who see the same economic and environmental opportunities as CIM. AirSeed is now capitalising on delivering this unique and critical opportunity at scale.”
“Launching our Series A funding round will drive AirSeed’s delivery of this massive opportunity and continue the transformation of our business to meet the rapidly growing appetite for reforestation and replanting opportunities at the scale necessary to help shift the dial on climate change.”
“Mara’s appointment to the Board comes when governments and corporates worldwide are acting to drive large-scale restoration projects. Concurrently, we are seeing a massive rise in corporate need and individual desire to be part of the solution, including participation in the carbon and nature markets and moving towards net zero.”
“This is a billion-dollar opportunity for AirSeed given our unique, scalable approach to rapid reforestation and investment in rigorous and robust reporting to show impact. Mara brings an impressive track record in successfully aligning strategy to global market opportunities for sustainability and corporate impact and extensive expertise in evaluating and mitigating risk. She has worked at the highest level of sustainability and corporate, and her insights are already proving invaluable.”
Quotes attributable to CIM’s Partner Alex Debney
“We’re delighted to welcome AirSeed as a new impact partner in the environmental sector. CIM’s carbon strategy focuses on working with high-quality mission-aligned environmental organisations to deliver emissions reduction and biodiversity outcomes rapidly. We look forward to delivering carbon sequestration and native Australian reforestation at an institutional scale by working closely with AirSeed.”
Quotes attributable to incoming AirSeed Director Mara Bún
“According to the IPCC, since humans began our settlements 10,000 years ago, we have crunched through 70% of nature. That can't continue, and AirSeed is the biggest bet for restoring all of that at scale and speed, so I am delighted to be joining the Board.”
“There are immense global opportunities for AirSeed given the uniqueness of its bio-diverse, scalable “seed pod meets drone” system. Nowhere else is proprietary technology where the pod captures the local biome and is planted and then monitored via drones for the best chance of success.”
“AirSeed does this at an unprecedented scale and significantly cheaper and faster than human planting, with its technology providing robust and transparent reporting of impact. This is an increasingly core part of the success of the carbon and nature markets. Given the higher restoration quality possible through AirSeed’s approach, there is also a very exciting opportunity to generate a higher quality of carbon credit.”
Media Contact: LJ Loch (+61) 488 038 555 or [email protected]
What AirSeed does differently (www.airseedtech.com)
AirSeed’s speed, cost and end-to-end solution from mapping, planting, and monitoring are unmatched. This includes:
- Seed pod biotechnology that is both soil and species-specific, which improves early-stage growth;
- Mobile manufacturing units which allow for seed pod manufacture at scale anywhere without import or biosecurity restrictions;
- Big Data capture from mapping, planting, and monitoring to detect and identify plant survivorship, biomass growth, and combative elements such as invasive weeds;
- Proprietary AI and machine learning to forecast future patterns, optimize processes and models;
- Transparent and objective data and robust reporting on effective reforestation, carbon, and nature project solutions for large corporate and government clients, including achieving ESG targets.
AirSeed’s model combines science, mobile manufacturing, and drone planting. After extensive terrain mapping and ecosystem modeling, a nutrient-rich seed pod is manufactured.
Guided by AI and collected data, drones fly autonomously planting seed pods whilst logging the GPS location of each pod planted. The planted areas are remapped to monitor seedling growth and implement proactive protection measures, including weed detection and eradication.
The data AirSeed captures provides complete transparency and measurability, building an understanding of what’s working and where changes need to be made to accelerate biodiversity and inform the actions of the drones and the on-the-ground AirSeed ecologists.
About Conscious Investment Management (www.consciousinvest.com.au/)
Conscious Investment Management (“CIM”) is an independent impact investment fund manager with a vision for a fairer, more sustainable world where people and the planet thrive. CIM invests for both positive impact and financial returns, delivering impact investments that are authentic, accessible, and scalable.
CIM is focused on investing in real assets in Australia and New Zealand across three impact themes: (1) social infrastructure, (2) housing, and (3) sustainability. Since its inception in 2019, CIM has invested $300M into impact investments with the support of over 550 investors. You can read more about CIM’s work in their latest impact report here.
