German startup Dryad Network raises €6.3M to advance its ultra-early wildfire detection technology

Eberswalde, Germany-based Dryad Networks, a company specialised in ultra-early wildfire detection technology, announced that it has been awarded a €3.8M grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg (ILB).

In addition to the grant, the German company also secured €2.5M in funding from First Imagine!, a climate-tech investor, bringing the total fund raised from its April convertible financing round to €8.9M.

The new capital injection positions Dryad to scale its Silvanet wildfire detection platform while driving forward the development of Florian, an innovative solution that combines AI-driven early detection with immediate suppression capabilities.

The company will use the funds to scale its Silvanet wildfire detection platform and develop its wildfire suppression project, codenamed “Florian,” an autonomous drone-based system designed to combat wildfires at their inception.

“We are thrilled to receive this substantial funding from ILB, which will significantly advance our ‘Florian’ project,” says Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO and co-founder of Dryad Networks.

“Combining this with the new investment from First Imagine Ventures, we are well-positioned to revolutionise wildfire management. Our vision is not only to detect wildfires at their earliest stages but also to suppress them quickly, minimising damage to communities, ecosystems, and infrastructure,” adds Brinkschulte.

Dryad: Ultra-early wildfire detection

Led by Carsten Brinkschulte, Dryad provides ultra-early detection of wildfires as well as health and growth monitoring of forests using solar-powered gas sensors in a large-scale IoT sensor network.

Dryad aims to tackle wildfires, which are causing up to 20 per cent of global CO2 emissions and have a devastating impact on biodiversity.

Currently, the company is working on Florian to swiftly and effectively suppress these fires.

Dryad does this by using an autonomous drone fleet equipped with fire suppression technology, such as acoustic waves, to extinguish wildfires before they have a chance to spread.

These drones will be permanently stationed in high-risk forests, ensuring a rapid response to potential threats.

Dryad’s core product, Silvanet, is already deployed in over twenty countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia, and 20,000 sensors have been shipped to date.

The investor

First Imagine! is a European-based venture capital firm looking for investment opportunities in the energy transition sector all over Europe and Israel.

Boris Dorin, partner at First Imagine!, comments, “Dryad’s groundbreaking approach to wildfire detection and suppression is exactly the type of transformative technology we seek to support. As wildfires grow in intensity and frequency due to climate change, the need for scalable, proactive solutions has never been more urgent. We are excited to partner with Dryad Networks in their mission to protect critical ecosystems and build a more resilient, sustainable future.”