Ecosystem restoration startup Lord of the Trees raises $1.25m pre-seed round to upscale environmental protection

Lord of the Trees, a full ecosystem restoration company that uses precision drone planting technology to restore degraded landscapes, announced a $1.25 million pre-seed funding round led by Draper Associates, a global venture capital firm investing in industry transforming companies.

Lord of the Trees uses a combination of high technology (artificial intelligence, robotics, and drones) and Lo-Tek (Local Traditional Ecological Knowledge) to harmoniously regenerate the Earth's damaged ecosystems. The company's precision-planting drones are capable of scattering seeds on a vast scale – at a rate of about 400,000 seed pods in just 12 hours – cheaper and more efficiently than ever before. These proprietary seed pods contain a blend of plant nutrients that sustain optimum germination conditions, increasing the seeds' chances of developing a healthy root system. The success rate (75%) is nearly double the industry average.

Aymeric Maudous, Founder, Lord of the Trees: "Planting trees is the most inexpensive and efficient way to combat climate change, a fact recognized by governments and environmental groups worldwide, however the cost of major replanting projects has always been prohibitive, and fraught with logistical difficulties. We are the first company to take a 360 degree look at how plants, animals, humans and other factors combine to produce a fully functional ecosystem – and how to restore it once it's been damaged. The need for innovative, effective replanting of the planet has never been more urgent with about half of the world's tropical rainforests having now been cleared. Deforestation threatens 80% of earth's land animals and plants along with our very existence."

Lord of the Trees plans to tackle restoring blue carbon sources, like mangroves, tidal marshlands, and kelp forests first, as these environments are able to absorb 3-5x more carbon dioxide than regular forests. In fact, the company is currently proceeding with a drone replanting project of critically endangered Red Mangroves in Australia and will be conducting additional programs in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, California, Mexico and Africa.

Lord of the Trees was founded by CEO Aymeric Maudous, after an extensive career as a brand marketer for Renault, Disney, Louis Vuitton (LVMH) and most recently – MaisonNets. In 2019, Aymeric founded Lord of the Trees, Australia's first commercial drone planting company and was hand-picked to be part of an international cohort of sustainability experts to participate in Al Gore's "Climate Reality Leadership" course.

Tim Draper, Founding Partner, Draper Associates: "I've been wanting to invest in a company that's truly committed to planet regeneration for a long time, and I found Lord of the Trees! I was thrilled by Lord of the Trees' simple technological solution and their innovative business model as well as their commitment to meet the growing needs of carbon reduction across the globe. I marvel at the possibilities this company is creating for our planet and their commitment to restoring our ecosystems." 

Lord of the Trees is poised to become an industry disruptor in upscaling environmental protection and habitat regeneration, working with government authorities, the mining sector, land owners, and the agricultural industry to restore biodiversity on a mass scale at a vastly reduced cost

www.lordofthetrees.ai