By Allan Maurer
MORGANTOWN, W. VA—What does forestry management have in common with the U.S. intelligence community? Morgantown-based ImageTree, a company that serves both sectors with advanced technologies that are also likely to prove useful in carbon sequestration management, a focus of the Obama administration.
ImageTree technologies combine remote sensing, automated software, and advanced analytics to assess forestry assets.
But those technologies, which include light detection and ranging, color infrared, hyperspectral imagery and global positioning systems, are also useful for determining such things as spotting illicit crop production or pinpointing areas where decreased crop production raises humanitarian concerns, among other possibilities that interest various U.S. government agencies.
That’s why stealthy In-Q-Tel, which invests in companies of interest to the U.S. intelligence community, put an undisclosed amount of money into the company earlier this month, although it may also be interested in other uses for the company’s technical abilities.
ImageTree CEO Mark Redlus tells TechJournal South, “In-Q-Tel typically surveys the technology marketplace to look for specific needs in the intelligence community. One important area is geospatial intelligence—the use and analysis of imagery to describeand depict features in an area anywhere on the planet. Almost every agency in the intelligence community has some interest in that.”
Founded in 2005, the 25-employee company has raised more than $6.7 million in backing from investors who include Battelle Ventures, PA Early Stage Partners, the West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust Board, the Conservation Fund’s Natural Capital Investment Fund, and Innovation Valley Partners, Battelle’s affiliate fund.
“ImageTree provides accurate and consistent assessment of forest assets to optimize timberland investment and management practices,” succinctly explained Battelle Ventures general partner Mort Collins when the company closed its $4.5 million B round.
Redlus says it can save forestry firms from 20 percent to 30 percent over current inventory processes, which are largely manually intensive, time-consuming, and costly.
“Typically, only one percent of a forest is actually sampled, and then projections are made to estimate the composition and value of the whole forest. There is a struggle for consistency and accuracy, and it is common for illogical changes to show up in estimates made several years apart,” he explains.
The company also sees a forthcoming role in providing accurate data to access carbon credit eco-markets, a focus of the Obama administration and of international bodies such as the United Nations.
ImageTree’s technology enables the accurate calculation and precise monitoring of carbon biomass. “This is an emerging market driven by biomass calculation,” notes Redlus.
For its forestry services, the company typically charges by the acre. Some customers pay on a subscription basis, per acre per year.
Redlus says that while some analysts lump ImageTree in with other GIS and remote sensing companies, a lot of it is “misassociation.”
“Break down what we actually do, and our competitors are mostly traditional forestry consultant organizations and more and more they’re becoming our collaborators.”
Redlus says the company expects to continue considering its capital needs for growth, acquisitions and strategic partnerships that make sense.
Online: www.imagetreecorp.com
© 2009, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.
