With US$6.5M in new funding, Veritree is scaling its forest restoration platform globally
With the wildfire season intensifying in recent years, post-wildfire restoration has become increasingly critical.
A Vancouver tech company drawing investor attention says it has an answer for not only replanting trees, but helping to rebuild forests that are more resilient to future fires.
Veritree Technology Inc. is a platform that uses ecological data and monitoring tools to support tree planting, tracking and reporting.
“Today, areas that historically wouldn’t have burned from wildfires are actually burning much hotter. At times, that burns the seed stock that would otherwise naturally regenerate after a wildfire,” said Derrick Emsley, CEO and co-founder of Veritree.
He said that without intervention, deciduous species could grow back fast, crowding out the chance for a mature, healthy natural forest to regenerate, which leaves the area more vulnerable to wildfires in the future.
“So restoration after wildfires is really critical,” said Emsley.
Through a combination of on-the-ground monitoring, sensor deployment and GIS tools, Veritree designs, operates and monitors tree-planting projects, especially of those involving native, fire-adapted species that are more resilient to future fires, according to the company.
Veritree recently secured a US$6.5-million Series A financing round led by Pender Ventures, with participation from Garage Capital, Northside Ventures and Diagram.
“We deploy a network of sensors at our projects—everything from wildfire monitors to acoustic and trail cameras to measure biodiversity, and soil sensors to understand humidity, heat, things like that. We pull all this information together to get a true pulse of the forest,” said Emsley.
The company has recently begun using AI-powered bioacoustic monitors to capture bird sounds to help track bird populations and behaviours—an indicator of ecological health and restoration success.
Emsley said the new investment will help accelerate the rollout of its AI monitoring and analysis tools, grow its market reach and expand into new markets in South America and Asia.
It’s not the only B.C. company aiming to mitigate wildfires.
Vancouver-based Voxelis Canada Corp. manufactures VoxVision, a device covered with cameras and backed by an AI software platform that is attached to firefighting helicopters. The bowling ball-sized device helps pilots navigate through wildfires through thermal scanning and mapping.
B.C. drone company FireSwarm Solutions Inc. has developed an AI algorithm for data processing, and retrofits heavy-lifting drones with sensors and cameras for firefighting capabilities.
However, economic uncertainty has pushed FireSwarm to change its trading priorities and eye markets beyond the U.S., CEO Alex Deslauriers toldBIVin May.
Deslauriers said prior to the second Trump administration, his Squamish-based firm was on the verge of signing several importation and pilot project contracts with U.S. companies for their drones and software.
“There has been an operational pause by these U.S. companies,” he said.
Canada was previously the priority market, followed by the U.S. and then Australia—largely because Australia’s peak wildfire season occurs during the North American winter, said Deslauriers.
“What the constraints with tariffs have done is flipped the go-to market strategy to Canada first, Australia second and U.S. third,” he said.
There have been more than 1,680 wildfires across B.C. since April of 2024, resulting in an estimated 1.08 million hectares of burned land, according to a B.C. wildfire season summary from the province.
Veritree was founded in 2022 as a sister brand to Tentree (Ten Tree International Inc.), an apparel company that plants trees for every product sold.
Originally created as an internal tool to track and confirm tree planting, Veritree has since evolved into a standalone platform now used by hundreds of companies interested in sustainable initiatives.
Tentree announced in 2023 that it had surpassed its goal of planting 100 million trees globally.
“Our vision is to become the platform that powers investment in nature,” Emsley said.
—With files from Adam Campbell, BIV
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