Kenya and US-based Virridy, dedicated to improving the management of environmental resources through technology, has closed $5.5 million in Series A funding round.
The fund will enable Virridy to accelerate the development and adoption of its satellite-connected sensors for managing water, energy, and agricultural resources.
Led by Accord Capital, other investors who participated in the round included FHI 360, Cleo Capital, Reverent Rock, Save Earth, and VertueLab. In addition to the funding, Virridy has rebranded from SweetSense to reflect its commitment to enabling high-quality environmental commodities.
Climate change continues to accelerate global environmental damage and economic stress. Two billion people currently live with chronic high water stress, one-third of agricultural soils globally are degraded, and two billion people face food insecurity. The current 20-year megadrought throughout the western United States is the worst in more than 1,200 years.
Virridy was founded to address these challenges and drive action toward global environmental resilience. Partnering with organizations including the National Science Foundation (NSF), USAID, the World Bank, NASA, the Millennium Water Alliance, and Swarm Technologies, Virridy is monitoring the water supply of over four million people to help maintain consistent supplies.
In Kenya and Ethiopia, Virridy’s low-cost, satellite-linked sensors monitor water boreholes, enabling government agencies responsible for maintenance to effectively deploy resources to minimize borehole downtime to ensure communities have consistent access to water well as livestock and crops.
Virridy is also working with The Freshwater Trust and Wexus Technologies to help farmers in the drought-prone Western United States monitor and better manage groundwater pumping and consumption while earning revenue through energy savings and automated demand response. This helps farmers keep operational costs down, increase revenue and comply with the growing government regulations on the sustainable use of groundwater.
“We are excited that Virridy is enabling environmental markets, including carbon credits, energy incentives, and water permitting through our sensors and analytics. Our team was the first to bring to market carbon financing for water treatment 15 years ago, and are now supporting these markets at scale for water access and conservation, soil carbon, and energy conservation,” said Dr. Evan Thomas, Virridy Founder and CEO.
“Accord is excited to partner with Virridy to support its continued growth and innovation,” said Chris Lackner, Managing Director at Accord Capital, “We believe the management team’s significant collective backgrounds will enable Virridy to become the leading sensor and data provider in environmental resource monitoring.”
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