The Earth Genome
The Earth Genome is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds AI-powered satellite imagery platforms, led by Earth Index, to deliver environmental intelligence to journalists, scientists, conservation organizations, policymakers, and government agencies worldwide, funded by foundation grants and donations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersMill Valley, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What The Earth Genome does
The Earth Genome is a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2015 and headquartered in Mill Valley/San Francisco, operating a small (1-10 employee) cross-disciplinary team of data scientists, geospatial scientists, and engineers drawn from organizations including The Nature Conservancy, National Geographic, Mapbox, Planet, USGS, Google X, and the White House. The organization builds AI-powered platforms that translate Earth observation data into actionable environmental intelligence for environmental journalists, scientists, conservation NGOs, policymakers, and government agencies. Its flagship product, Earth Index, is a free web application that uses satellite imagery foundation models (SSL4EO, AlphaEarth) and a proprietary 320 sq meter embedding pipeline to let users train classifiers or run nearest-neighbor searches over global Sentinel-2 imagery, returning environmental detections in days rather than months.
The portfolio extends well beyond Earth Index into domain-specific platforms, including Climate TRACE (realtime facility-level GHG emissions across 70,000 highest-emitting sites), Global Food Twin (supply-chain modeling across 3,787 subnational regions and 82 commodities), Amazon Mining Watch, Global Plastics Watch, ctrees (forest carbon), RechargeIQ and GRAT (managed aquifer recharge), the Storm Events Database (~2M NOAA records), Seagrass, WasteMAP, Global Energy Monitor, and The Margin environmental-justice media platform. Core technical infrastructure is open-sourced on GitHub across Go, Python, Rust, and TypeScript implementations of MajorTom Grid, with embeddings distributed via STAC catalog, GeoParquet, Amazon S3, and Source.coop, and energy-use metadata captured for transparency.
Revenue is sourced from donations and grants rather than product fees; Earth Index is offered free in an Open tier to any user globally and in an application-gated Full tier with Deep Search and API access for high-impact environmental users. Funders span Google.org, AWS, Bezos Earth Fund, Rockefeller Foundation, Moore Foundation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Allen Family Philanthropies, Schmidt Family Foundation, Minderoo, Pulitzer Center, ClimateWorks, NSF, Mozilla, and McCaw Family Foundation. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, with co-creation alongside scientists (Climate TRACE), journalists (Mongabay, ProPublica), and policymakers (US State Department, USACE), supported by content marketing, open-source developer relations, and conferences including COP30, Data Harvest, and the Africa Mining Watch Mapathon.
The Earth Genome firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Earth Genome
- Legal name
- The Earth Genome
- Website
- https://earthgenome.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- The Earth Genome is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds AI-powered satellite imagery platforms, led by Earth Index, to deliver environmental intelligence to journalists, scientists, conservation organizations, policymakers, and government agencies worldwide, funded by foundation grants and donations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Earth Genome industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Environmental Monitoring Software
- NAICS
- Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Remote Sensing & Geospatial MRV (Satellite, Aerial, LiDAR, SAR) (EUABACAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Carbon, Sustainability & MRV Platforms (GHG Accounting, Regenerative Ag) (AFAAAFAK), Climate & Emissions Data Management (Data Lake, Integration, APIs) (EUABAEAC), Soil & Biomass Carbon Measurement (Soil Sampling, Forest Inventory, Blue Carbon) (EUABACAH), Agriculture & Land-Use MRV (Soil carbon, livestock, forestry/REDD+) (EUAHADAI)
Keywords
Where The Earth Genome is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Mill Valley
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Earth Genome business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Grants: Earth Genome operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Revenue comes from donations and grants. The website explicitly states 'Your donation fuels the research, tech, and collaboration behind lasting environmental impact.' Financial supporters include foundations and philanthropies.
- Grant-Funded Project Work: Many projects are funded through specific grants from organizations like Climate Works Foundation, Google.org, and Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. Projects are developed in close partnership with researchers, policy makers, and technologists.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Open tier - Free access to all users |
| Freemium | Monthly | Full tier - Advanced features for approved users |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels8 records
The Earth Genome product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Earth Genome is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds AI-powered geospatial software platforms for environmental monitoring. Its core product, Earth Index, applies foundation models to satellite imagery (Sentinel-2, SSL4EO/AlphaEarth embeddings) so users can extract an area's environmental 'genetic signature' and locate features such as mining sites, cattle pens, or deforestation in days rather than months. Earth Genome also develops and operates specialized platforms including Climate TRACE, Global Food Twin, Amazon Mining Watch, Global Plastics Watch, ctrees, RechargeIQ, GRAT, and others.
Product overview
The Earth Genome is a nonprofit that develops a portfolio of environmental monitoring platforms and tools using AI, satellite imagery, and earth observation data. The core product is Earth Index, an AI-powered search tool for satellite imagery that enables users to find environmental features anywhere on the planet. Earth Genome also builds and supports specialized platforms including Climate TRACE (emissions monitoring), Food Twin (global food supply chain modeling), Amazon Mining Watch, Global Plastics Watch, and Global Energy Monitor. Additional platforms address water management (RechargeIQ, GRAT, Storm Events Database), biodiversity (Seagrass, ctrees), and agricultural systems. The portfolio is built on shared technology infrastructure including foundation models for satellite imagery, Earth observation processing, and data visualization capabilities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Earth Index: A search tool for the environment that harnesses satellite imagery and machine learning to extract an area's 'genetic signature'. Allows users to obtain environmental insights in a day instead of months.
- Climate TRACE
- Amazon Mining Watch
- Global Plastics Watch
- ctrees
- Food Twin
- Recharge IQ
- WasteMAP
Products and services
- Earth Index AI-powered search tool for the environment that applies foundation models to satellite imagery so journalists, scientists, conservationists, and policymakers can locate environmental features (e.g., mining, deforestation, cattle pens) across the planet in days instead of months. Available as a free Open tier for anyone and a free Full tier for approved high-impact users.
- Climate TRACE AI-powered platform for real-time greenhouse gas emissions reporting across major economic sectors. Earth Genome designs and builds the production website and data infrastructure, mapping the 70,000 highest emitting facilities worldwide.
- Global Food Twin
Quantifiable outcome
- Insights obtained in days instead of months
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use The Earth Genome
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
The Earth Genome technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability7 records
Feature7 records
The Earth Genome partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
18 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and major.
- Climate TRACE CoalitionflagshipStrategic partnership to build and maintain Climate TRACE - an AI-powered platform for realtime GHG emissions reporting. Earth Genome designs and builds the production website and data infrastructure. Collaboration identified nearly 400,000 large-scale livestock facilities.
- MongabayflagshipInvestigative partnership with environmental news organization. Together detected 67 clandestine airstrips in Peruvian Amazon used for drug transport, threatening Indigenous communities. Mongabay publishes investigations using Earth Index findings.
- Pulitzer CenterflagshipPartnership through Pulitzer Center's Rainforest Investigations Network for Amazon Mining Watch. The two nonprofit organizations joined forces to bring machine learning and investigative journalism together for environmental problems in the Amazon.
- Clean Air Task Force (CATF)majorEarth Genome built an interactive map for Clean Electricity Standards across states, making CATF's policy analysis accessible to other states adapting policies.
- Conservation InternationalmajorCollaboration to explore using AI to build a specialized advisor that translates complex biodiversity standards into actionable steps for framework selection, project design, and monitoring.
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC)majorPartnership for seagrass mapping methodology development, fine-tuning remote sensing AI models for 4 pilot geographies, and creating maps of seagrass extent, change, threats, and carbon stocks.
- US State Department and AgMIPmajorBuilt Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils Explorer with US State Department and Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project to address food security in Africa through investment in resilient, nutritious indigenous crops.
- Stanford UniversitymajorResearch collaboration with Stanford University researchers to develop high-resolution, up-to-date land-use maps for dengue risk assessment in Costa Rica, capturing fine-scale habitat variation relevant to disease transmission.
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Arizona State UniversitymajorCollaboration to develop Recharge IQ, which identifies suitable locations for using excess floodwater for beneficial and practical groundwater recharge. ASU hydrologists determined suitability factors including hydraulic conductivity and aquifer drawdown.
- Sustainable ConservationmajorPartnership to develop the Groundwater Recharge Assessment Tool (GRAT) for identifying locations suitable for managed aquifer recharge in California.
- Saint Louis University Remote Sensing LabmajorResearch partnership for cattle facility mapping globally. SLU handles modeling, developed the Bovine Slurry Index (BSI) for detecting cattle pens using hyperspectral data. Partnership covered half of top 30 countries in cattle methane emissions.
- Better Planet Laboratory at University of Colorado BoulderflagshipPartnership to launch Global Food Twin - a digital twin modeling supply chains across the entire world's food system. Tracks calories from farm to fork across oceans and borders.
- Development SeedmajorPartner that built the majority of the Global Food Twin web application. Led extensive design sprint for the platform.
- Internet of Water and The CommonsmajorPartnership to transform nearly 2 million NOAA storm records into a discoverable platform for decision-makers nationwide - the Storm Events Database.
- The Circulate InitiativemajorPartnership to redesign The Plastic Lifecycle Assessment Calculator for the Environment and Society (PLACES), which assesses climate impact of waste management practices in South and Southeast Asia and Latin America.
- shift7 and Princeton University's Program on Science and Global SecuritymajorClient for Revisiting Nuclear Test Fallout project. Partnership to reconstruct and visualize radionuclide deposition for re-evaluation of public health and environmental impacts from atmospheric nuclear testing.
- earthrise educationmajorPartnership to build educational platform using collaborative mapping and satellite imagery to support real-world investigations for students.
- Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)majorComplementary approach to conservation. Earth Genome adopts HOT's socio-technical approach and integrates OpenStreetMap data for the 'cold start' problem in Earth Index searches.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
The Earth Genome competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Sylvera: Commercial MRV provider focused on nature-based solutions and forest carbon using satellite and AI; overlaps with Earth Genome's Climate TRACE livestock/seagrass/forest work in MRV methodology.
- Global Forest Watch (World Resources Institute): WRI-hosted deforestation and land-use monitoring platform; a benchmark for combining satellite data, near-real-time alerts, and an open web app for journalists and policymakers.
- Global Fishing Watch: Nonprofit that similarly combines satellite imagery, AI, and open data platforms to monitor and publicly expose environmental activity (here, fishing fleets) at planetary scale.
- Climate TRACE Coalition: Coalition Earth Genome both 'designs and builds' the production site and data infrastructure for; functionally a sister project in facility-level GHG emissions MRV using satellite and AI.
- Development Seed: Earth observation and data infrastructure consultancy that built the Global Food Twin web application for Earth Genome; competes in the same geospatial-AI engineering niche.
- Pachama: Carbon project marketplace backed by satellite-based MRV of forests; comparable problem space (satellite AI + carbon/forest data) and a similar mission-aligned positioning.
Broad incumbents
- World Resources Institute (WRI): Large environmental research nonprofit that houses Global Forest Watch; sets the standard for combining satellite monitoring with global policy and research outputs.
- Planet Labs: Commercial satellite operator and geospatial analytics platform with far broader capital and infra; provides underlying imagery and analytics that Earth Genome builds on and competes alongside.
- Microsoft AI for Earth: Microsoft's AI-for-environment program grants and cloud APIs addressing habitat, agriculture, climate, and water; similar mission, much larger capital base.
- Google Earth Engine (Google.org): Hyperscaler-scale geospatial processing platform used by environmental researchers; a benchmark incumbent whose Earth AI/GenAI initiatives partially overlap with Earth Index.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
The Earth Genome social profiles
Digital presenceThe Earth Genome financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Earth Genome leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
The Earth Genome funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Earth Genome M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Earth Genome
What does The Earth Genome do?
The Earth Genome is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds AI-powered geospatial software platforms for environmental monitoring. Its core product, Earth Index, applies foundation models to satellite imagery (Sentinel-2, SSL4EO/AlphaEarth embeddings) so users can extract an area's environmental 'genetic signature' and locate features such as mining sites, cattle pens, or deforestation in days rather than months. Earth Genome also develops and operates specialized platforms including Climate TRACE, Global Food Twin, Amazon Mining Watch, Global Plastics Watch, ctrees, RechargeIQ, GRAT, and others.
Is The Earth Genome a public or private company?
The Earth Genome is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was The Earth Genome founded?
The Earth Genome was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is The Earth Genome based?
The Earth Genome is headquartered in Mill Valley, United States, in the North America region.
How does The Earth Genome make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Donations and Grants are the primary driver. The others are grant-Funded Project Work.
Who are The Earth Genome's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Sylvera, Global Forest Watch (World Resources Institute), Global Fishing Watch, Climate TRACE Coalition, Development Seed and Pachama. Broad incumbents are World Resources Institute (WRI), Planet Labs, Microsoft AI for Earth and Google Earth Engine (Google.org).
Does The Earth Genome have an API?
Yes. Earth Index Full tier access users have API access to Earth Index. The API enables programmatic access to Earth Index search and detection capabilities for developers and partners.
What industry is The Earth Genome in?
The Earth Genome's product category is Environmental Monitoring Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUABACAF, Remote Sensing & Geospatial MRV (Satellite, Aerial, LiDAR, SAR), with a secondary code of AFAAAFAK, Carbon, Sustainability & MRV Platforms (GHG Accounting, Regenerative Ag). Its NAICS code is 541620.