Vegetation management is critical for utilities to ensure trees, branches and other plants avoid contact with powerlines. Overstory, based in Amsterdam and Somerville, Mass., uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to map vegetation near electricity infrastructure.
Its data helps utilities optimize infrastructure maintenance and respond to wildfire risks. Women-led climate tech investor Blume Equity led Overstory’s $43 million Series B financing. Energy Impact Partners, B Capital, Semapa Next, Convective Capital, Bentley Systems and others also participated in the round.
Overstory said the funding will support development of AI-based risk modelling and its new “fuel detection model,” which identifies high-risk wildfire areas and advises on “exact actions” that can reduce the risk.
“Wildfires will continue to occur, but we can get much smarter about how to prevent the worst from happening,” Overstory’s Fiona Spruill told ImpactAlpha. “Investors are keenly aware of the billions of dollars at stake and the urgent need to bolster the resilience of our grid.”
Climate AI
This summer was the worst wildfire season in Europe in more than two decades. Such fires pose a climate and environmental danger; they’re also expensive.
PacifiCorp, a utility owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, was hit with $30 billion in claims last year for the 2020 Oregon wildfires. In California, PG&E paid $13.5 billion into a trust for victims of wildfires in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
“Satellite data, AI and the vegetation-management intelligence we get from companies like Overstory are transforming how utilities think about wildfire prevention,” said Andy Abranches of PG&E, an Overstory client. “The details are in the data, and that precision allows us to deploy our crews where wildfire risk is greatest.”
