Almi Invest Greentech invests 5 million SEK in Katam Technologies, which develops digital services for better forest management using AI and computer vision. Private investors also participate in the issue of a total of 10 million SEK. The money will be used for commercialization and global expansion.
Katam, which was founded in 2016 in Lund, is a spinoff from the telecom industry and offers a SaaS service to improve and modernize the global forest industry. High-resolution data about the forest is collected with various tools such as apps, drones and other data sources. Through patented algorithms, artificial intelligence and Katam’s own forest experts, Katam transforms the forest data into a basis for decision for its customers around the world.
The services are useful for both large and small forest owners and Katam is already available in several continents, mainly in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
Katam’s products enable greater precision in, among other things, thinning, which provides better maintenance, greater production and higher yields. At the same time, they contribute to a reduction in the global net emissions of carbon dioxide and an increase in the production value of forests.
With Katam’s software, the forest owner can film the forest with a regular smartphone or with a drone. Via AI and computer vision, the software identifies essential parameters such as individual trees, their height, diameter, species and position. The collected information is analyzed and processed into a quality-assured report to the forest owner, which provides a basis for better and more accurate forest management.
– Katam’s data-driven decision-making basis gives forestry increased volume growth and yield and is beneficial for both society and the climate, says Jörgen Bodin, Investment Manager at Almi Invest’s Greentechfond. In Sweden alone, there are 300,000 forest owners, which means that we see significant potential in Katam’s products.
Katam’s services are already used by customers both in Sweden and globally and the investment primarily aims to scale up the business to more countries. Further development of the product range is ongoing and there are plans to broaden to more customer segments in the near future.
– During the last year, we have completed about ten pilots, mainly in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Our SaaS solution has proven to work very well in emerging markets, despite the fact that many countries have been hit hard by Corona. This investment means that we can now meet the large international demand for our high-resolution decision-making basis for more efficient forest management, says Katam’s CEO Krister Tham.
For further information contact
Jörgen Bodin, Investment Manager Almi Invest Greentech, tel 072 205 26 79, mail jorgen.bodin@almiinvest.se
Krister Tham, CEO of Katam Technologies, tel 0702 488 563, email krister.tham@katam.se
About Almi Invest
Almi Invest is Sweden’s most active investor in startups. We make investments throughout the country via 8 regional venture capital companies and a national venture capital company within GreenTech. Almi Invest manages approximately 3.5 billion SEK and has since the start invested in approximately 600 startups. Our best holdings have been acquired by Google, Microsoft, Qlik and Apple, among others, or listed on various stock exchanges. Almi Invest is a venture capital company within the Almi Group, partly financed by the EU’s structural funds.
