From wildfires to "forever chemicals": 10 startups tackling the nature crisis

Protecting natural habitats is becoming an ever-bigger focus area for impact startups.

Investors and big corporates are catching on, too. A recent study shows that global venture capital investments into nature tech – solutions that aim to protect and restore natural ecosystems and biodiversity – topped $2b in 2024 for the first time.

Big sectors within nature tech includes fire prevention, water management, biodiversity monitoring and seafloor mapping.

So what kind of solutions are investors looking for? Impact Loop put together a list of 10 of the hottest nature tech startups in Europe to highlight some of the biggest trends.

Dryad Networks – Sensors that “smell” a fire

German startup Dryad wants to detect wildfires before they have a chance to spread. The company builds solar-powered IoT sensors mounted on trees that can analyse gases to “smell” fires within minutes. The sensors form a network relaying alerts to a cloud-based system for rapid response.

Their latest leap is the Silvaguard drone, an AI-enabled prototype that autonomously deploys from solar-powered hangars, delivers optical and infrared imaging, and ultimately aims to suppress wildfires before they spread.

PlanBlue – Underwater “satellite”

PlanBlue is mapping one of the least understood but most important parts of our planet – the seafloor. The German company has developed what it calls an “underwater satellite” that uses hyperspectral imaging and AI to produce highly detailed seafloor maps to monitor biodiversity and ecosystem health. Currently, only about 1% of the ocean floor has been mapped in detail, according the company.

Originally spun out from the Max Planck Institute, PlanBlue has backing from EU programs like Climate-KIC and the ESA incubator. It has also been named by Salesforce as an “AI for Good” solution.

Dendra Systems – Drone-enabled reforestation

Dendra uses drones and AI to monitor large-scale ecosystems, “from mines to mangroves.” Their platform can detect and map erosion, flora distribution, infestations and other features. It also has specialised seed-dropping drones that spread more than 50 types of seed species to help regenerate and restore degraded landscapes.

NatureAlpha – Reducing nature risk for investors

Nature-related risks are becoming an increasing concern for investors and financiers. UK-based NatureAlpha is addressing that by offering analytics on biodiversity and nature-related risks for investment portfolios, helping companies and investors align with regulatory frameworks.

“From day one, our goal has been to lead the world in nature risk intelligence,” says founder Vian Sharif.

NatureAlpha isn’t just trying to protect investors, though – it’s also looking out for the planet by identifying projects that deliver both ecological and financial returns.

Ellipsis Earth – Waste and litter mapping

UK-based Ellipsis Earth is another company using the combination of AI and drones, but in their case it is to detect litter and plastic pollution across urban, river, and coastal ecosystems. One of the end goals is to reduce the amount of plastics that end up in the ocean. One case study shows that their data was used to reduce litter by an average of 75% on some British beaches.

BiOceanOr – “Underwater weather”

French blue-tech startup BiOceanOr forecasts water quality parameters for aquaculture operations like fishfarms by using AI to monitor variables like dissolved oxygen, temperature, and harmful algal blooms. It delivers both real-time data and 48-hour predictions to help fish farmers optimize fish welfare and growth. The company raised €2 million in February to expand internationally, including operations in Norway, Chile, Scotland, and Australia.

NatureMetrics – Biodiversity monitoring with eDNA

Environmental DNA is becoming one of the most reliable ways to track biodiversity. eDNA is the material that organisms naturally shed into their surroundings, such as cells, hair and other traces, which can be collected from water and soil samples. UK-based NatureMetrics offers a subscription-based monitoring platform powered by eDNA that allows organizations to measure ecosystem health. The company was a finalist for the 2024 Earthshot Prize, and secured more than €20m in Series B funding in January.

Puraffinity – Removing forever chemicals from water

London-based Puraffinity develops advanced materials that can remove PFAS – so-called “forever chemicals” – from water. It has partnered with the U.S. Army to evaluate its technology and signed its first commercial agreement in June with Envytech Solutions, a Nordic specialist in mobile water treatment.

Oxyle – Destroying PFAs all together

Swiss startup Oxyle is also targeting forever chemicals, but has developed a technology that can eliminate them all together from wastewater. Their system first separates the PFAs and then uses a photochemical reduction to eliminate them without creating any secondary waste. It claims its technology can degrade over 97% of various PFAS types. It deployed its first full-scale PFAS destruction system in Switzerland last year.

Materra – Making the fashion world more sustainable

Materra is using regenerative farming to make the fashion industry more sustainable. Its regenerative cotton programme includes 4,000 farmers in India and combines regenerative farming practices with in-field data collection to cut down on water and chemical usage. Their ambition is to regenerate 500,000 hectares of land by 2030 and their work is already supported by major fashion chains like H&M and Mango.

Pictured top row: Susan Graham, Dendra Systems; Dimple Patel, NatureMetrics; Edward Brial, Materra. Bottom row: Samuel Dupont, BiOceanOr; Hannah Brocke, PlanBlue; Fajer Mushtaq, Oxyle; Henrik Hagemann, Puraffinity.