Södra is also investing in Nordic Forestry Automation (NFA), the company that develops AI-based operator support for forest machines. NFA has just closed a funding round. It is led by Navigare Ventures and Almi Invest Greentech, and LRF Ventures joins as a new partner. Södra is following up its investment together with other existing owners and will therefore maintain its ownership stake of just over ten per cent.

NFA's technology measures the trees in real time and assists the operator during the work. The company’s first product is an operator support system for thinning, which is currently used on forest machines in seven countries on three continents and has been in operation for more than 20,000 hours. Södra was involved early on and has the technology in some of our harvesters. The company is now continuing to work on the next generation, including tree species identification, trunk shape measurement and partial automation.

The funding round for NFA comprises a total of SEK 48 million from all parties. The capital will primarily be used for continued product development and expansion in additional markets.

"For Södra, it's about continuing to be involved in developing more data-driven forestry. This is an investment that will benefit members in the long run. A well-executed thinning results in a healthier forest that grows better and creates value for the forest estate. At the same time, the machine operator gets better support in their day-to-day work," says Andreas Hörnfeldt, Head of New Business at Innovation & Strategy.

 

Source: sodra.com

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