Overstory

“Extreme weather events triggered 1,755 widespread power outages from 2014 to 2023—double the figure from the early 2000s, according to Climate Central, a research organization on climate science.” As we usher in a new year, the US government’s National Climate Assessment anticipates that even more extreme weather is headed our way in 2025 and the years to come. But it’s a pivotal, hopeful moment for those willing to rise to the occasion. Utility executives, climate scientists, and lawmakers alike agree that this particular convergence of challenges—skyrocketing demand, aging infrastructure, and extreme weather—calls for unprecedented innovation. For example, by using AI and remote sensing to spot a single hidden, dying tree off a utility’s right of way months before it causes a power outage or wildfire. Today, we’re helping teams like Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative, OGE Energy Corp., and Cobb EMC find and mitigate critical vegetation risk to help keep the lights on. We’re helping teams mitigate that risk faster and more affordably than ever, and are proud to support the more resilient and reliable grid our communities deserve today and in the future. 🔗 Read more in WSJ: https://lnkd.in/eNsA3KPs

As the year comes to an end and we look forward to 2025, there is one word that encapsulates where we’ve been and where we’re going at Overstory, and that is resilience. Last December, I took over as the CEO of Overstory when our co-founder and original CEO, Indra den Bakker, was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Two months ago, we lost Indra at the age of 35 after a brave battle with this terrible disease. If you had the privilege of knowing him, you know what a uniquely special person the world has lost. Our hearts ache for his partner and Overstory’s co-founder, Anniek Schouten, their amazing young daughter, as well as his mother, father and sister. Leadership transitions can be a jolt for a team even when they’re not a complete surprise, as this one was a year ago. The Overstory team has been truly resilient in the face of this change. They stepped up and intensified their focus. As a result, 2024 has been the most successful in Overstory’s history. We have doubled the number of customers we serve, tripled the number of miles of power lines we analyze and nearly quadrupled our revenue. The thing that motivates this amazing team is knowing our work has a real impact on reducing the risk of power outages and wildfires. We’re solely focused on electric utilities because, without a resilient grid, there can be no energy transition and, quite simply, lives and livelihoods are at risk. We truly believe that AI presents a huge opportunity to solve these problems, and that Overstory will be the leader in AI-driven resiliency for utilities. Recently, I was out in the field with one of our customers. Our product had identified a dying tree that could fall on a power line, causing an outage or wildfire. The customer said, “A human could easily have missed that.” Indra loved moments like that. He and Anniek started the company because they saw the potential to use AI to help solve our climate crisis, and they were determined to do so in a way that made business sense for our customers. Indra’s brilliant mind and big heart will forever be a part of Overstory. His humanity, his sense of humor, his curiosity and his humility are all characteristics that are woven into the company’s values and on full display in our team today. I learned so much from him and feel lucky to have called him my friend. If you’d like to join us in paying tribute to Indra, please consider contributing to the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the cancer hospital where he was treated. We will honor his legacy every day by continuing to prove that Overstory is a wildly successful business that has a deeply positive impact by creating a more resilient world. https://lnkd.in/gFk8PjfM

LiDAR is often accurate to 6 cm. And satellite imagery? Usually to 61 cm. Does that make LiDAR better for vegetation management? Not always. When evaluating remote sensing tech for your use cases, accuracy shouldn't be the end goal. Choosing the right combination of tools for accuracy, cost, and actionability should. With the help of our utility customers, we put together a quick guide to help you effectively evaluate which tools are right for which jobs. Read the guide to learn... 💸 What's worth the cost: When to invest in high-accuracy tools like LiDAR and when a more affordable option like satellite imagery gets the job done. 🔍 What actually works: Why more data isn’t always better—and how to prioritize insights you can act on right away. 💪 How utilities put different tools to work: How ops teams are using remote sensing tools to save time, optimize costs, and improve grid resilience. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e79SzTjA

As the energy transition speeds up, regulators in the US are tackling big challenges. Three at the top of mind at NARUC's annual meeting? Wildfire mitigation, resource adequacy, and affordability. Facing inflation, supply chain problems, and load growth issues (beyond the growing threat of extreme weather), utilities need to work together with their PUCs to best protect and serve their communities. Strategic, data-driven decision making around operations is key. As Oregon PUC Megan Decker rightly pointed out, "That fundamental responsibility—to be figuring out ways to lessen the impact on ratepayers and to make sure that the value proposition is strong for the investments that are being made—is really our core job." Read more in the Utility Dive recap: https://lnkd.in/eDFDz7SF

Last week, we were proud to join the first climate-focused #SatSummit in Europe at Lisbon's NOVA SBA campus. Some highlights: 🎤 Our own Sílvia Coimbra joined a panel on Integrating Earth Observation into Organizations, where speakers walked through the ways organizations are using EO data to make real change across industries 💻 Working together with Vincent Sarago on extending STAC/titiler in a collaborative workshop 🌍 Hearing from the brilliant researchers, engineers, and conservation leaders shaping the technology of tomorrow for a greener, safer future Many thanks to the wonderful folks at Development Seed and DevGlobal for hosting.

One of my favorite parts of my job is spending time with our electric utility customers in the field, validating what they're seeing in the Overstory product. It is so exciting when our algorithms detect via satellite imagery a dying tree that could fall on a power line, and our customer says, "a human might have missed that!" That one tree could cause a power outage or a wildfire, so these are the moments that validate the impact we're having using AI to help utilities be more resilient to climate change.

Last week, we held our first Overstory Field Day in Spokane with a few of our local customers. 💚 No technology replaces the hard-won field knowledge of these crews, so we put boots to the ground to see how Overstory's tech can help scale that expertise for more efficient, more resilient operations. 🥾 Many thanks to JH Land Consultants, LLC for sharing their wisdom on working with federal agencies and to Amanda Opp for her expertise on using vegetation intelligence for more successful grant applications. And thank you, Inland Power & Light Co., for hosting such a great event. Deeply proud and grateful to work with such a brilliant community of customers and partners. VIGILANTE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE INC Kootenai Electric Cooperative Northern Lights, Inc. Electric Cooperative Ravalli Electric Co-Op Flathead Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Managing vegetation risks in the face of extreme weather, rising energy demand, and tightening regulations is no small feat. 😮💨 Many utilities are turning to advanced technology to meet those challenges, but they may fall short on operations goals by choosing the wrong tool for the job or missing critical use cases. In the Playbook for Operationalizing Advanced Vegetation Intelligence, we walk through practical tips from three seasoned vegetation management experts (Ben Gura, Steven Frazier, and Nick Day) on how to evaluate, integrate, and put this tech to work to optimize your operations program. 👉 Download the guide to learn: *How to build the business case for vegetation intelligence *Tips for evaluating and selecting the right tech and partners *Ways to use data to drive impactful, proactive decision-making With practical insights from thoughtful VM leaders from ATC, ComEd, and OGE Energy Corp., this playbook offers a roadmap to resilient, data-driven vegetation management. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ecXJ7eCB

With about 4,000 startups in the Amsterdam ecosystem, we’re honored to be among the top 10. Year three on WIRED's hottest European startups list and we just keep getting hotter. 🔥 Here’s why: The electrical grid is the backbone of the global energy transformation, and it’s under unprecedented strain. EVs, data centers, and heat pumps are growing at a breakneck pace. Extreme weather events and wildfires are putting lives at risk and threatening critical grid infrastructure. We need a resilient grid now more than ever. Trees falling or growing into power lines is the single greatest cause of power outages and catastrophic wildfires, but we’re combining remote sensing data and AI to help utilities predict and mitigate those vegetation-related risks before they ever materialize. 🌳 Read more in the WIRED article: https://lnkd.in/gBQd-_hU We’re based in Amsterdam, but our team is spread across 12 countries, speaks 15 languages, and is represented by 16 nationalities. We’re rooted in diversity (just like the ecosystems we’re working to protect), and our team is growing. Join us: https://lnkd.in/gk6G-wwZ

Last week, our Product and Engineering teams gathered in Amsterdam for an exciting week to reconnect, create, and innovate together. 🚀 More than just a meeting, our team gathering reminded us how passion and purpose drive our mission at Overstory. We charted our path for the coming year to plan how we can best support the utilities at the forefront of the energy transition, help people make smarter decisions about our natural resources, and ultimate serve our communities. Like all meaningful work, building the Overstory platform comes with its challenges. And we are so proud and grateful to take on those challenges together with this team of gritty, creative, and kind people. 💚 (Fueled, of course, by tasty farm-to-table meals along the way.)