Aramco Ventures Invests in British AI Ecology Platform Dendra Systems

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco Ventures has taken part in a $15.76 million Series B funding round for Dendra Systems, a British environmental tech company using AI to innovate ecological solutions. An additional $4 billion was added to Aramco Ventures by its parent company Aramco, one of the world’s leading energy and chemicals companies, bringing total investable assets to $7 billion.

Founded in 2014 by Dr. Susan Graham and Matthew Ritchie, the UK-based company implements end-to-end solutions to restore nature, powered by high-resolution data capture and drone-based seeding projects, as well as a growing AI-enabled ecosystem insights platform. The company is involved with ecological projects - such as the restoration of mangroves in Abu Dhabi - from conceptualisation to inception and beyond, providing ongoing monitoring and reporting post-implementation.

The latest round of funding will further fuel Dendra Systems’ geographical expansion, addressing the urgent need for large-scale eco-restoration projects.

“We are excited about the potential of Dendra Systems’ technology to make a huge impact on biodiversity by restoring ecosystems,” Bruce Niven, Executive MD of Strategic Venturing at Aramco Ventures, tells StartupScene. Such tech “contributes to increasing plant species richness and habitat restoration.”

Aramco Ventures’ interest in Dendra Systems is indicative of Aramco’s commitment to operational decarbonisation, and of Saudi Arabia’s broader aims for carbon neutrality - 90% or Aramco is owned by the Saudi government, and another four percent belongs to the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund. In December 2023, Saudi Arabia announced its intent to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060, with 50% of its electricity capacity fulfilled by renewable sources by 2030.