AirForestry Receives Significant Grant from the Swedish Energy Agency to Modernize Forestry

UPPSALA, 17-11-2023 - AirForestry has been granted a funding of  €2.7M EUR from the Swedish Energy Agency. This grant supports AirForestry's vision of a more gentle, sustainable, and electrified forestry.

Thinning plays a vital role in forestry. With its innovative drone technology, AirForestry aims to make this process more efficient and environmentally friendly. In collaboration with large forestry companies and Skogforsk, AirForestry is launching this project to modernize thinning methods using drones instead of ground-based machines.

The total funding for the project amounts to 31.8 million SEK, of which 30 874 500 SEK is allocated to AirForestry and the remaining sum goes to Skogforsk. The project spans from 2023 to 2025.

The Swedish Energy Agency believes that AirForestry's drone-based forest thinning technology has teh potential to be more energy-efficient compared to conventional ground-based machinery. Among the benefits are the ability to carry out thinning in multiple phases, a reduced need for forest roads, and the avoidance of ground damage. These advantages also enhance the forest's role as a CO2 sink. The project team behind AirForestry has extensive expertise in forestry, automation, and other relevant areas. The forestry industry's interest is evident from Billerud's and Skogforsk's participation and through the forestry industry's previous financial support for AirForestry projects.

Olle Gelin, CEO and co-founder of AirForestry, expressed: "We are grateful and honored that the Swedish Energy Agency recognizes the potential in our technology. This investment is pivotal in our pursuit to transform forestry in Sweden and worldwide."

Contact
For further questions about AirForestry, contact the company at phone +46 70-049 78 47 or press@airforestry.com.

About AirForestry
AirForestry's ground-breaking technology makes it possible to thin forests in a completely new way, from the air. The company's innovation makes it possible to run fossil-free, gentle and more productive forestry. We contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from forest work while increasing the forest's ability to bind carbon. By creating better forests, we contribute to a more sustainable society - economically, environmentally, and socially. It's not just our primary goal but also our main driving force. Learn more at www.airforestry.com, watch our videos here, and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest.

AirForestry - Harvest trees with drones # Reinventing Forestry

What we do: Forest thinning from above with electric autonomous drones for more productive, resilient, and beautiful forests. 

Founders: Olle Gelin, Mauritz Andersson, Markus Romar, Caroline Walerud. 

CEO: Olle Gelin 

Location: Uppsala 

Employees: 24 

Year Founded: 2020 

Net Revenue: 1.5 MSEK in total since inception 

Financing: 65 MSEK in total, split between venture capital, grants, loans, and customer revenue. 

Major Shareholders: The founders and Walerud Ventures. 

Milestones and Innovations: We have the world's lightest harvesting tool, which hangs from the drone and trims and saws the tree. Proprietary drone optimized to lift 200 kg (thinning trees weigh 40-140 kg). Flight permit from the Swedish Transport Agency. 

Competition: Most of Sweden's thinning is done with ground-based forestry machines. They weigh up to 30 tons, damage the ground, require 5 meter wide access roads to reach the trees to be thinned, provide a poor work environment, and burn 200 liters of diesel per day (3.5 billion liters of diesel globally per year). 

Awards: Norrsken Impact/100 winner of Public Vote, World Economic Forum Top Innovator, Techarenan Business Award, 33-listan, etc. 

Collaborators and Sponsors: Sveaskog, Tele2, Vattenfall, Vinnova, SkogForsk, The Swedish Energy Agency, etc. 

Work with us! See https://careers.airforestry.com/