Oxford-headquartered Dendra Systems, which builds tools for ecological restoration, has raised over $15 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by climate tech investor Zouk Capital with significant participation from new investor Aramco Ventures (invested in ANYbotics and NexWafe) and existing investor Airbus Ventures. Additional investments came from existing investor Understorey Capital and several new investors, including Helium-3 Ventures.
The company will use the investment to accelerate its mission of advancing global ecosystem restoration efforts.
AI-based ecology platform
Dendra Systems was founded by Matthew Ritchie and Dr. Susan Graham in 2018. Building the most powerful tools for ecosystem restoration, it combines decades of research in ecology and land restoration with AI and drone technologies to speed up and scale up land rehabilitation.
It restores large-scale ecosystems by combining field ecology with remotely collected high-resolution imagery, which is analysed in the AI-enabled Dendra data platform. The resulting insights power world-class restoration outcomes through aerial seeding and management tools, whilst also addressing biodiversity and carbon measurement needs.
Successful restorations across arid, tropical, and coastal environments from desert ecosystems to mangrove forests mean that Dendra is increasingly the platform of choice for environmental managers leading multi-year government, infrastructure, and mine rehabilitation programmes.
Dr. Susan Graham, CEO of Dendra Systems said: “We are immensely proud of securing the support of these experienced and supportive investors as we embark on this next phase of growth. This funding will enable us to bring our AI-driven restoration solutions to more ecosystems around the world, helping to reverse biodiversity loss and mitigate the effects of climate change. Our RestorationOSTM technology and approach represent a game-changing opportunity for environmental monitoring and restoration, and we are excited to be able to double down on our efforts to empower environmental teams to reverse these global trends.”
John Higelin, Partner Zouk Capital said: “The drive to revitalise our planet’s ecosystems is among the most pressing challenges of our era. As the global community strives towards environmental sustainability, Dendra Systems is tackling the critical task of ecosystem monitoring and restoration head-on and at scale. Zouk Capital is delighted to lead this Series B round, supporting Dendra’s mission to expand its impact globally. “
Bruce Niven, Executive MD, Strategic Venturing, Aramco Ventures added: “We are excited about the potential of Dendra Systems’ technology to make a huge impact on biodiversity by restoring ecosystems, thus contributing to increasing plant species richness and habitat restoration, as well as its impact on forestry and mangroves plantation management, which is a key enabler for scaling nature-based solutions”.
