Swarmed

What Swarmed does

Swarmed operates a community-driven, dual-sided platform that connects homeowners who encounter honey bee swarms with nearby registered beekeepers for free, bee-friendly relocation. Founded in 2022 by Mateo Kaiser, a 5th-generation beekeeper and UC-certified Master Beekeeper, the platform serves two primary user groups: members of the public who submit free swarm reports, and individual beekeepers who receive real-time alerts via SMS, WhatsApp, or email and claim swarms to expand their apiaries. The core product is a georeferenced swarm-reporting web application with an integrated beekeeper alert system that has routed more than 300,000 alerts to over 10,000 registered beekeepers across 150 cities in 20 U.S. states, with parallel coverage in Europe and Australia.

Underlying the platform is a proprietary data asset of 17,000+ georeferenced swarm reports collected since 2022, which powers a contributor-only Bee Swarm Data Dashboard. This dashboard delivers a daily 0-100 swarm likelihood score for monitored locations using Growing Degree Day-based weather modeling combined with habitat factors (historical swarm density, registered beekeeper density, and satellite-derived mature tree canopy cover), a seasonal forecast comparing current activity against historical regional averages, ranked trap placement recommendations, and a swarm history heatmap. The Citizens of the Hive nonprofit sub-brand publishes these datasets as open data for researchers and conservationists, and a 70+ association partnership program embeds Swarmed's reporting forms directly into beekeeping association websites, reducing association administrative workload by approximately 90%.

Monetization is a freemium model with three modest streams: a pay-what-you-want Contributor subscription ($1-$7/month suggested, 640 paying beekeepers) unlocking SMS/WhatsApp alerts and predictive analytics; lead-referral partnerships with Instantly (email outreach) and Networx (US home-services lead marketplace); and tax-deductible donations through the nonprofit Citizens of the Hive. The company operates as Swarmed LLC (Wyoming, USA) and a Netherlands sole proprietorship (KvK 96813733) for GDPR compliance, is independently owned by its founder, has no institutional venture or private equity backing, and runs with a 1-10 person team.

Name

Swarmed

Legal name

Swarmed LLC

Website

https://beeswarmed.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Swarmed operates a free, community-driven platform that connects homeowners reporting honey bee swarms with nearby registered beekeepers for bee-friendly relocation, using a proprietary georeferenced swarm dataset to power predictive analytics for beekeepers across 150 U.S. cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Swarm Reporting and Beekeeper Alert Platform

NAICS

Apiculture (112910), Exterminating and Pest Control Services (561710)

akta.pro primary industry

Bee Removal & Relocation (Honeybees) (HSAMAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Emergency/Same-Day Stinging Insect Response (HSAMAFAK)

Keywords

• Swarm reporting platform
• Beekeeper alert services
• Pollinator conservation data
• Citizen science software
• Swarm relocation network

Headquarters

HQ city

Mountain View

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Pay-What-You-Want Contributor Subscriptions: Voluntary contributions from beekeepers on a pay-what-you-want basis ($1-$7 per month suggested), unlocking premium features. Billed annually for amounts under $5 due to transaction fees. Core service remains free for all users.
2. Lead Referral Partnerships: Sharing user contact information with third-party partners (Instantly for email outreach, Networx for US home-services leads) where users consent, generating referral fees when users are matched with service professionals beyond swarm rescue.
3. Donations via Citizens of the Hive: Tax-deductible donations from the public, processed through the nonprofit Citizens of the Hive entity, supporting bee education and research while keeping the free community service operational.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Swarmed operates a free, community-driven web platform that connects people who encounter honey bee swarms with local beekeepers for bee-friendly relocation. The platform aggregates georeferenced swarm reports (17,000+ since 2022), dispatches real-time alerts to 10,000+ registered beekeepers via SMS, WhatsApp, and email, and offers a Contributor-tier data dashboard with daily swarm likelihood scores, seasonal forecasts, and trap placement recommendations.

Product overview

Swarmed operates as a dual-sided platform combining a public swarm reporting service with a beekeeper management tool, supported by a citizen science data initiative. The core product is the Swarmed Platform (beeswarmed.org), which includes a public-facing Swarm Reporting Form for citizens to report honey bee swarms and a Beekeeper Alert System that delivers real-time notifications (via text, WhatsApp, or email) to over 10,000 registered beekeepers. Built on top of the swarm report dataset is the Bee Swarm Data Dashboard (Contributor-only), offering Swarm History Maps, Daily Likelihood Scores, Seasonal Forecasts, and Trap Placement Recommendations. The Citizen Science layer (Citizens of the Hive) publishes open datasets for researchers. A partnership program allows beekeeping associations to embed the reporting form and gain insights. Pricing tiers include a free Essential plan (email alerts) and a Contributor plan ($1-7/month) adding WhatsApp/text alerts and predictive tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Citizens of the Hive: The nonprofit open data project of Swarmed, turning swarm reports and environmental observations into freely available public datasets for researchers, conservationists, and land managers. Swarm Health Data Points: 1,000,000 honey bees protected, 36,000,000 beekeepers supported, 5,500 data points.

Products and services

• Swarmed Platform A free, community-facing web platform that matches people who encounter honey bee swarms with local beekeepers for bee-friendly removal and relocation, and aggregates swarm reports nationwide.
• Swarm Reporting Form A free public web form where anyone can report a honey bee swarm with location, size, height, situation, and optional photo; reports are routed to nearby registered beekeepers.
• Beekeeper Alert System A notification system delivering real-time swarm alerts to registered beekeepers via SMS, WhatsApp, or email based on proximity to reported swarms; over 300,000 alerts have been sent.
• Bee Swarm Data Dashboard A Contributor-only dashboard providing swarm history maps, daily 0-100 likelihood scores, seasonal forecasts, trap placement recommendations, and regional trend insights built on the 17,000-record georeferenced dataset.
• Citizens of the Hive A nonprofit open-data initiative that transforms swarm reports and environmental observations into freely available public datasets for researchers, conservationists, and land managers.
• Association Partnership Program A partnership program for regional, state, and national beekeeping associations, nonprofits, and municipalities to embed Swarmed's reporting form on their websites, serve members with swarm alerts, and gain local data insights; used by 70+ associations worldwide.
• Contributor Subscription A pay-what-you-want subscription tier ($1–$7/month suggested, billed annually) unlocking WhatsApp and SMS alerts, seasonal predictions, swarm heatmaps, and regional insights; 640 beekeepers currently contribute.

Quantifiable outcome

• 250 million bees protected through swarm relocations
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UC Davis Master Beekeeper ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSatellite Partner of the UC Davis Master Beekeeper Program, providing credentialed beekeepers with enhanced platform access and integration with academic beekeeping education standards. Validates platform credibility within professional beekeeping circles.
• Amateur Beekeepers AustraliaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNational beekeeping association in Australia using Swarmed's reporting tools and swarm alert system for their members. Part of 70+ association partner network.
• Ohio State Beekeepers AssociationminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor state beekeeping association using embedded Swarmed tools for swarm reporting and member notifications.
• Northern Colorado Beekeepers AssociationminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional association advising on platform features and providing feedback to improve swarm response coordination. President Tim Hardy serves as advisor to Swarmed.
• Sustainable Beekeepers Guild Of MichiganminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional nonprofit beekeeping organization using Swarmed's embedded tools for member swarm alerts.
• Citizens of the HivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNonprofit open data initiative behind Swarmed, publishing swarm data as public datasets for researchers and conservationists. Donations processed through this entity support platform operations.
• 70+ Beekeeping Associations WorldwidecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership network including Amateur Beekeepers Australia, Ohio State Beekeepers Association, Northern Colorado Beekeepers Association, Forsyth County Beekeepers Association, Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association, Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild, Northern Kentucky Beekeepers Association, Worcester County Beekeepers Association, Middlesex County Beekeepers Association, Northwestern Pennsylvania Beekeepers Association, Chester County Beekeepers Association, Olympia Beekeepers Association, Treasure Valley Beekeepers Club, Nevada County Beekeepers Association, Three Rivers Beekeepers, Warren County Ohio Beekeepers, Chatham County Beekeepers Association, Barnstable County Beekeepers Association, Sacramento Area Beekeepers Association, Bucks County Beekeepers Association, Northern Nevada Beekeepers Association, Spartanburg Beekeepers Association, and others. Associations embed Swarmed's reporting form and provide members with swarm alerts.
• Instantly (Email Outreach Partner)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerEmail outreach partner that sends communications on Swarmed's behalf to users who have opted in to marketing communications.
• Networx (US Home Services Lead Marketplace)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerHome services lead marketplace partner for US users who consent to sharing, generating referral fees for Swarmed when users are matched with service professionals beyond basic swarm rescue.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• BeeHero: BeeHero is a precision-beekeeping startup that places IoT sensors inside commercial hives to monitor colony health and optimize pollination contracts for large growers. It is comparable to Swarmed because both serve beekeepers with data-driven decision tools, but BeeHero targets commercial pollination operations and high-value crops, whereas Swarmed focuses on hobbyist swarm catching and citizen science.
• Bumble Bee Watch: Bumble Bee Watch is a citizen-science partnership (Xerces Society, USGS, multiple universities) that crowdsources bumble bee sightings for North American conservation. It is comparable to Swarmed because both collect georeferenced pollinator observations from a volunteer base to power conservation-relevant datasets and engage community reporters.

Direct peers

• Journey North: Journey North is a citizen-science project that tracks wildlife migrations and seasonal phenomena (monarchs, hummingbirds, tulips, etc.) using crowdsourced reports from schools and volunteers. It is comparable to Swarmed because both rely on crowdsourced geo-tagged sightings to surface migration/activity patterns, though Journey North spans many species while Swarmed is focused exclusively on honey bee swarms.
• Hive Tracks: Hive Tracks is a web and mobile beekeeping management platform used by hobbyist and sideliner beekeepers to log inspections, track hive health, and coordinate apiary operations. It is comparable to Swarmed because both serve individual beekeepers with software tools that overlay data on beekeeping activity, though Hive Tracks focuses on hive management rather than swarm-alerting and prediction.
• The Great Sunflower Project: The Great Sunflower Project is a long-running citizen-science initiative that collects pollinator counts from home gardeners to track pollinator diversity across North America. It is comparable to Swarmed because both turn casual public observations into structured datasets supporting pollinator research, though the Great Sunflower Project focuses on pollinator diversity rather than swarm relocation.
• Bee Informed Partnership: Bee Informed Partnership runs national honey bee health surveys and loss reports in collaboration with the USDA and land-grant universities, publishing open data on colony mortality. It is comparable to Swarmed because both collect and publish standardized, georeferenced bee data for community and research use, though BIP focuses on annual colony loss surveys rather than real-time swarm reporting.

Broad incumbents

• iNaturalist: iNaturalist is the largest citizen-science biodiversity platform, with tens of millions of crowdsourced observations including honey bees and other pollinators. It is comparable to Swarmed because both turn public species observations into open datasets, but iNaturalist covers all of biodiversity while Swarmed is purpose-built for honey bee swarm coordination and prediction.

Others

• The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation: The Xerces Society is a nonprofit that protects invertebrates and their habitats through research, advocacy, and habitat restoration, including strong pollinator programs. It is comparable to Swarmed because both operate in the pollinator-conservation ecosystem with overlapping research and citizen-science communities, though Xerces does not run a swarm-alert consumer platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

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 Swarmed