DroneSeed has acquired Silvaseed Company, a 130 year-old titan in the forestry seed collection and seedling supply business. The move expands DroneSeed’s reforestation services beyond aerial drone-based seeding to span seed collection, seedling cultivation in nurseries, and on-the-ground tree planting services. The acquisition comes at a critical time in the forestry industry, with skyrocketing demand for reforestation and many tree nurseries facing significant seed and seedling shortages.
“With the compounding crises of climate change, wildfires and forest loss, accelerating the pace and scale of reforestation is essential,” said Grant Canary, CEO of DroneSeed. “By creating the industry’s first vertically-integrated reforestation company, we now offer a ‘one-stop-shop’ of reforestation services for landowners and foresters: starting from seed supply, to aerial enhanced seeding, to seedling cultivation, to traditional replanting, and more.”
Tackling the national shortage of tree seed & seedlings is critical to mitigate the exponentially increasing loss of forests due to wildfire and climate change. DroneSeed is eager to begin addressing this by building upon Silvaseed’s robust infrastructure and utilizing its aerial tech.
Matthew Aghai, DroneSeed’s Senior Director of Biological Research & Development, will serve as interim general manager of Silvaseed with support from industry veteran Arnoud de Villegas. The company will continue seed collection and seedling operations with the Silvaseed name and brand.
DroneSeed is scaling reforestation to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. DroneSeed offers vertically integrated reforestation services across seed collection and procurement, seedling growth, aerial enhanced seeding with drones, traditional replanting on the ground, and funding for reforestation projects from carbon credits.
