The archive · Climate & Energy · Strategic decision · 2023–2026
ReForest Latam bets drones and seed capsules make reforestation a business; $1M pre-seed
Argentine climate startup founded after a 50,000-hectare fire replaces hand-planting with drone-dropped iSeeds; $1M+ pre-seed, four countries, B Corp.
ReForest Latam
What the business is
B2B/B2G ecosystem restoration: biotech seed capsules (iSeeds), drone sowing, and AI satellite analysis to restore native forests for carbon and biodiversity developers, landowners, and governments.
Starting capital：US$400,000 of founders' own savings; >US$1M oversubscribed pre-seed led by iThink VC (2025)
How it started
Damián Rivadeneira and Paula Gianserra founded Re-Forest Latam in 2023 in Tucumán, Argentina. The trigger was personal: their volunteer effort to restore 3 hectares of forest was dwarfed the same week by a 50,000-hectare fire in Salta. They concluded restoration had to be a technology business, not a charity — they put in US$400,000 of their own money and went 28 months without salaries.
What happened
The company built iSeeds — biodegradable capsules of native seeds activated with microorganisms — plus autonomous sowing drones that fly up to 27 km and plant thousands of trees a day, and an AI/GIS platform that matches species to micro-sites from satellite imagery. It was certified a B Corp in 2024, won Argentina's national "emprendimiento del año" award, ran 14 paid pilots, and signed partners including The Nature Conservancy; a >US$1M pre-seed led by iThink VC closed in 2025 to take the technology from TRL6 to TRL9.
How it ended up
Scaling: active in Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia with 400+ hectares intervened and 14+ projects, plus a framework agreement for Paraguay; the company claims restoration at about one-fifth of LatAm's ~US$7,000-per-hectare average.
Background
Re-Forest Latam's bet is that reforestation is too slow and expensive because it's manual — and that drone-dropped biotech capsules, targeted by AI, can make restoring nature a business rather than a charity. Founders Damián Rivadeneira and Paula Gianserra were driven by a personal jolt: in 2022 their volunteers restored 3 hectares in Tucumán while a fire in Salta burned 50,000 hectares the same week.
The company's core is the iSeed: a biodegradable capsule of native seeds activated with microorganisms, dispersed by autonomous drones that fly up to 27 km and plant thousands of trees a day, with an AI/GIS platform choosing species for each micro-site from satellite imagery. It claims up to 20x faster planting and one-fifth of LatAm's ~US$7,000-per-hectare average restoration cost.
Certified a B Corp in 2024 and named Argentina's "emprendimiento del año," Re-Forest ran 14 paid pilots, partnered with The Nature Conservancy, and closed a >US$1M pre-seed led by iThink VC in 2025. It operates in Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia with 400+ hectares intervened and has a framework agreement for Paraguay.
What has to be true
- Drones and activated seed capsules attack the two blockers of reforestation — labor cost and terrain access — claiming up to 20x planting speed and 25x germination effectiveness.
- The founders' own US$400,000 and 28 unpaid months show the bet was conviction, not grant-chasing; revenue came from paid pilots and partners like The Nature Conservancy.
- Selling restoration to carbon and biodiversity developers, landowners, and governments turns a public-good problem into a B2B service with a measurable price per hectare.
- The AI/GIS platform makes precision the moat: 51 native species tested and matched to micro-sites, so scale doesn't mean generic planting.
What can be applied
A catastrophe can price the wedge: the founders turned an unfightable fire into a thesis that manual planting can't scale, making cost per hectare the measure converting philanthropy into a business.
Aftermath
As of September 2026 Re-Forest Latam is scaling: a B Corp certified in 2024 with a 12-person team in Tucumán, more than US$1M raised (including the founders' own US$400,000), operations in four countries — Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and an agreed entry into Paraguay — 14 paid pilots, and partnerships with The Nature Conservancy and Fundación Moisés Bertoni. The company targets a global restoration market projected at US$1.2 billion by 2030 and plans to move its technology from TRL6 toward TRL9 with the new capital.
Sources
- Reforest Latam: la startup que usa drones e inteligencia artificial para reforestar bosques y fue distinguida como "emprendimiento del año"
- Usan drones e inteligencia artificial para reforestar bosques y acaban de cerrar una ronda pre-seed de US$1 millón
- Drones, biotecnología y semillas activadas: la startup tucumana que desembarca en su cuarto país y apunta a un mercado de US$ 1.200 millones
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