SKYLAB aerial vegetation mapping GmbH

What SKYLAB aerial vegetation mapping GmbH does

SKYLAB aerial vegetation mapping GmbH is a German precision-forestry company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Hamburg. It applies remote sensing (drones, manned aircraft, and satellites at resolutions from 30cm to 10m, including multispectral and LiDAR) combined with proprietary artificial intelligence branded as #forestAI to deliver forest analytics for commercial forestry operators, conservation managers, and forest carbon project developers. Its product portfolio spans eight modules organized into four compartments: STEM COUNT/STOCKING (Seedling Counter, Tree Counter, Canopy Gap Analysis), CHANGE (Damage Assessment, forest health monitoring, vegetation cover change), CARBON (Carbon Solutions for re-/afforestation, forest protection, agroforestry, and mangrove restoration), and ORTHOFOREST+ (forestry-optimized orthophoto processing). SKYLABcloud is the self-serve cloud platform where customers upload raw drone imagery and stand boundaries to receive automated orthophotos, density maps, weed maps, vitality maps, and stand statistics without requiring GIS expertise.

The company generates revenue primarily through usage-based per-hectare pricing for satellite analysis (€0.05-€1.5/ha) and drone-based seedling/tree counting (€3/ha at list, with material volume discounts), alongside subscription-style access to SKYLABcloud. Its named enterprise customers include YORK Timbers (60,000ha, South Africa), Greenwood Resources (270,000ha, North & South America), Australian Bluegum Plantations (100,000ha, Australia), and Green Triangle Forest Products (Australia). Distribution is hybrid: a self-serve product-led motion through SKYLABcloud combined with a consultative sales-led motion offering free consultations, drone/data-source advisory, and integration support. The company is privately held, founder-led by Albrecht von Ruffer (CEO) and Alexander von Engel (CFO/co-founder), has raised approximately $1.97M across two disclosed funding rounds (2019 and 2021), and operates with 1-10 employees.

Name

SKYLAB aerial vegetation mapping GmbH

Legal name

SKYLAB aerial vegetation mapping GmbH

Website

https://skylabglobal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SKYLAB is a German precision-forestry company applying proprietary #forestAI to drone, plane, and satellite imagery for tree counting, seedling survival, forest health monitoring, damage assessment, and carbon project analytics, serving large commercial forestry operators and forest carbon projects globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Forestry Analytics Software

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Drone/UAV Data Capture & Processing Software (AFAAAFAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Aerial Surveying & Crop Scouting (Imaging, Mapping, Stand Counts) (AFACAIAJ), Satellite Imagery & Monitoring Platforms (AFAAAFAI)

Keywords

• Aerial vegetation mapping
• Forest remote sensing
• Forest carbon monitoring
• Drone forestry analytics
• Precision forestry AI

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Satellite Analysis Services: Usage-based pricing for satellite imagery analysis of large areas. Prices range from €0.05/ha for very large areas to €1.5/ha for smaller areas. Monitoring frequency options include annual or quarterly coverage for forest health, damage assessment, and change detection.
2. Seedling and Tree Counting: Per-hectare pricing for drone and plane imagery analysis. Standard price of €3/ha for counting services with significant volume discounts for larger areas. Includes tree density counts, seedling survival monitoring, canopy cover analysis, and health assessment.
3. SKYLABcloud Platform Access: Cloud platform access for automated image processing, tree counting, and forest analytics. Customers upload raw aerial imagery and stand boundaries for immediate quality check and automated analysis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SKYLAB provides AI-powered aerial data analysis services for forestry and forest carbon applications. The company processes drone, plane, and satellite imagery to deliver forest analytics including tree and seedling counting, forest health monitoring, damage assessment, canopy gap analysis, and carbon project monitoring. These services are delivered through the SKYLABcloud online platform where customers upload raw imagery for automated orthophoto processing and analytics, supported by expert advisory on data source selection.

Product overview

SKYLAB offers a modular #forestAI platform built around four core compartments: STEM COUNT/STOCKING (Seedling Counter, Tree Counter, Canopy Gap Analysis), CHANGE (Damage Assessment, health assessment, change detection), CARBON (historic land use, monitoring, baseline assessment, biomass/carbon inventories), and ORTHOFOREST+ (orthophoto processing). These are delivered through the SKYLABcloud platform where users upload drone or satellite imagery and receive automated analysis outputs including density maps, weed maps, vitality maps, and stand statistics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SKYLABcloud: Online cloud platform for uploading drone images, processing orthophotos, generating tree/seedling counts, density maps, weed density maps, and vitality/productivity maps for forestry analysis.
• Forest Health Monitor
• Seedling Counter
• Carbon Solutions
• Damage Assessment
• Tree Counter
• ORTHOFOREST+

Products and services

• Forest Health Monitor

Quantifiable outcome

• Tree count accuracy validated by enterprise forestry customers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature9 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Maxar Technologies: Maxar provides high-resolution satellite imagery and geospatial analytics used in forestry, agriculture, and defense. As a data source and analytics competitor, Maxar is comparable to SKYLAB at the satellite imagery layer, with broader cross-vertical scale.
• Trimble Agriculture: Trimble's agriculture division provides precision agriculture software, GIS, and farm management platforms. Comparable to SKYLAB as a precision-ag/forestry software player, though Trimble is much larger and broader in scope; potential acquirer or competitor for forestry analytics.
• Planet Labs: Planet Labs operates the largest commercial satellite constellation and provides daily Earth observation imagery to forestry, agriculture, and government customers. SKYLAB relies on satellite providers like Planet as data inputs; Planet could expand downstream into forestry analytics, becoming both supplier and competitor.
• DroneDeploy: DroneDeploy provides drone data capture and processing software across construction, agriculture, and forestry. Directly comparable platform layer to SKYLABcloud, though DroneDeploy serves a broader set of verticals and offers drone fleet management alongside analytics.

Emerging players

• Pachama: Pachama is a forest carbon marketplace using satellite imagery and AI to verify carbon credit projects. Overlaps with SKYLAB in forest carbon MRV but operates upstream at the credit issuance/marketplace layer rather than as a pure analytics provider.
• Sylvera: Sylvera provides independent ratings and monitoring of carbon offset projects using satellite data and machine learning. Comparable to SKYLAB's carbon analytics capability but positioned as a rating/verification intermediary rather than a direct service provider to forest owners.
• Picterra: Picterra is a geospatial AI platform that lets organizations train and deploy custom machine learning models on satellite and aerial imagery. Comparable to SKYLABcloud at the AI-on-aerial-imagery layer, but horizontal/platform-focused versus SKYLAB's vertical forestry specialization.

Direct peers

• Treeconomy: UK-based Treeconomy provides remote sensing and AI services specifically for forest carbon measurement and natural capital accounting. Closest direct competitor to SKYLAB's Carbon Solutions offering, serving the same voluntary carbon market with AI-based forest MRV.
• LiveEO: Berlin-based LiveEO provides satellite-based analytics for vegetation and infrastructure monitoring across Europe. Like SKYLAB, it processes satellite and aerial imagery to deliver vegetation insights to enterprise customers and serves forestry, rail, and utility use cases — directly overlapping in technology stack and European customer base.
• Overstory: Overstory applies satellite imagery and machine learning to monitor vegetation and forests globally for utilities, forestry, and insurance. Directly comparable to SKYLAB in its AI-powered remote sensing approach to forest analytics, though Overstory skews more toward utility vegetation management while SKYLAB is forestry-pure.

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/skylabglobal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/skylabglobal
• Instagraminstagram.com/skylab_global

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SKYLAB aerial vegetation mapping GmbH