Our French start-up participates in the fight against global warming by developing a method of reforestation by drones of degraded ecosystems, on a large scale and across the world. With this first round of financing, MORFO is launching an ambitious recruitment plan, accelerating its R&D, and positioning itself as a key player in the protection and restoration of biodiversity thanks to the unique combination of its four technological building blocks: Agritech, Computer Vision, AI and Drones. This round of financing is co-led by Demeter and RAISE Ventures, as well as AFI Ventures, TeamPact Ventures, and Business Angels.
Founded in 2021 by Adrien Pages, Hugo Asselin and Pascal Asselin, MORFO announces today its first fundraising of €4 million. After having designed a complete drone-based reforestation solution combining seedpods, microbiology and Computer Vision, this ClimateTech company will use this fundraising to strengthen its teams around the world and develop its R&D programs.
More than just a technique, MORFO carries out a genuine project for biodiversity's complete and sustainable restoration, taking into account environmental and social impact of its deployment. MORFO has already successfully piloted several projects in Latin America and Equatorial Africa.
Its proven method is now ready to be deployed through commercial contracts with industrial companies but also research centers and states.
"We were quickly won over by this highly ambitious project. The reforestation stakes for the coming years are enormous, and MORFO's approach makes it possible to envisage a real large-scale reforestation solution while preserving biodiversity." - Stéphane PESQUE & Maud LARBEY, RAISE Ventures
This round is led by Demeter and RAISE Ventures, and completed by AFI Ventures (Ventech) and TeamPact Ventures (founded by former rugby player Benjamin Kayser, and including Olympic champions Nikola Karabatic and Antoine Brizard). Nicolas Béraud (Founder and CEO of BetClic), Jean-Gabriel Levon (Co-founder & Chief Impact Office of Ynsect), Caroline Lair (Founder and CEO of The Good AI), and Graffi Rathamohan (Founder and CEO of PNY restaurants) are also business angels.
A unique association between Agritech, Computer Vision and Drones
MORFO's solution is a four-step reforestation process, focusing primarily on tropical and subtropical regions.
First, a data collection via drone allows to analyze the biodiversity and the area to be reforested.
The appropriate species are selected from a large internal catalog, studied and tested in our internal and external laboratories. They are then collected by local communities to best meet the needs of the ecosystem.
Following the analysis and collection phase, MORFO's drones disperse seeds in pods which contain all the biological and nutritional elements necessary for long-term reforestation.
Finally, the evolution of the plantations is the subject of particular attention thanks to a monitoring of the biomass and the biodiversity, with the help of drone and satellite images.
A single drone can handle up to 50 hectares per day, each capable of planting 180 bolls per minute on steep, hard-to-reach terrain. This is 50 times faster than a traditional reforestation solution, and without months of nursery growth.
"MORFO's mission is to develop a faster, less costly, biodiversity-focused method capable of being deployed on a large scale. Our goal: to fully restore native and diverse forest ecosystems, guarantee their longevity and combat global warming" - Pascal Asselin, co-founder of MORFO.
Recruiting to perfect the solution and conquer the market
To support its growth, MORFO will strengthen its R&D (Agritech, Machine Learning, Computer Vision & Remote-sensing), Marketing, Sales and Operations teams, with the recruitment of 22 new employees from 2023.
New members will allow the company to reach its next objectives, among which the optimization of its patented seedpods, the study and large-scale testing of 375 species by the end of 2024, the improvement of its drones, its analysis and monitoring tool, as well as the large-scale deployment of reforestation projects.
In terms of partnerships, MORFO signed 3 scientific new collaborations with the University of Sao Carlos (UFScar) and French laboratories INRAE and IRD.
In the short term, MORFO's commercial objectives focus on carbon contribution players , mining companies, public institutions and governments. MORFO has began a project in Gabon in collaboration with Eramet, a global mining and metallurgy group, to contribute to the rehabilitation of its mining sites.
"MORFO's innovative approach complements our range of revegetation solutions, enabling us to envisage rapid intervention in difficult-to-access areas, while meeting our safety, biodiversity and quality monitoring requirements over time" - Frédéric Bart, Mining Environment Coordinator, Eramet Group.
MORFO is also aiming to expand internationally and in strategic countries, notably in Latin America, with the probable opening of an office by mid-2023, in addition to its Paris premises.
"Morfo makes it possible to recreate sustainable ecosystems and combat climate change. Thanks to its in-depth understanding of ecosystems, its unique technology seed selection, encapsulation and drone sowing, MORFO offers a highly effective reforestation solution that meets the needs of all players wishing to restore biodiversity to impoverished areas. We're delighted to be able to support its team, who have been able to create significant momentum around their highly promising solution." - Geoffroy DUBUS & Thomas BEAUGENDRE, Demeter
Now, MORFO's team has the means to restore the maximum number of forest ecosystems around the world as soon as possible.
