DroneSeed Acquires Silvaseed Co., 130-Year-Old Forestry Seed Collection and Seedling Supply Business

DroneSeed, the Seattle-based “reforestation one-stop shop”, has announced that it has acquired Silvaseed Company, a 130-year-old leader in the forestry seed collection and seedling supply business. With the acquisition, DroneSeed expands it reforestation services beyond aerial drone-based seeding, to span seed collection seedling cultivation in nurseries, and on-the-ground tree planting services. The acquisition comes at a critical time in the forestry industry, with skyrocketing demand for reforestation and many tree nurseries facing significant seed and seedling shortages.

In discussing the acquisition, Grant Canary, DroneSeed’s CEO said, “With the compounding crises of climate change, wildfires and forest loss, accelerating the pace and scale of reforestation is essential. By creating the industry’s first vertically integrated reforestation company, we now offer a ‘one-stop-shop’ of reforestation services for landowners and foresters: starting from seed supply to aerial enhanced seeding, to seedling cultivation, to traditional replanting, and more. We’re thrilled to build on Silvaseed’s track record and are doubling capacity at Silvaseed to meet intensifying demand.”

In an email, David and Mike Gerdes, former owners and brothers of Silvaseed said, “As we look to the future, we are pleased that DroneSeed will continue our work of reforesting the land we love in a way that is scalable and sustainable. Transitioning our business to DroneSeed made sense from both a strategic and practical perspective. We are proud of the work we have collectively done to build lasting relationships with our customers for whom we have produced seed and grown a lot of seedlings over the years.”