VANCOUVER and BERLIN – The Telus Pollinator Fund for Good is investing in Dryad Networks, a German startup “that provides ultra-early wildfire detection through large-scale IoT networks and sensors that can detect fires as early as their smoldering phase,” according to a Telus press release last week.
The amount of the Telus Pollinator Fund’s investment was not announced.
“Telus recognizes that there is an urgent need to scale innovative wildfire detection technologies and that’s why the Pollinator Fund is investing in Dryad,” Blair Miller, managing partner, Telus Pollinator Fund, said in the release. “More than 10 million hectares — an area about three times the size of Belgium — have already burned this year in Canada alone.”
Citing 2017 data from Natural Resources Canada, Miller said “the annual national cost of fire protection exceeded $1 billion for six of the last 10 years” (2007-2017).
“Not only can Dryad sensors limit economic losses, but they also have a significant impact in the fight against climate change. They protect vital ecosystems and can even save human lives by alerting first responders within minutes of a wildfire starting,” Miller added.
Dryad’s wildfire detection solution can operate in remote regions and uses IoT technology to extend mobile network coverage areas, the release explains.
The solution has been deployed in Europe, South America and the United States. The Pollinator Fund’s investment is expected to help Dryad further scale in the U.S. and into Canada, the release says.
“Dryad’s goal by 2030 is to deploy 120 million sensors around the world and to protect nearly 4 million hectares of forest,” the release says.
