OpenForests
OpenForests operates explorer.land, a SaaS geo-transparency platform that helps conservation NGOs, corporate ESG teams, foundations, and business coalitions map, monitor, and report verifiable impact for nature-based restoration and carbon projects across 2,000+ mapped sites.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersKrefeld, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What OpenForests does
OpenForests is a Krefeld-registered, fully remote German company that builds and operates explorer.land, a web-based geo-transparency platform for nature-based solutions projects. The platform enables restoration and conservation projects to map their boundaries, monitor ecological change via satellite and field data, and publish verifiable, geo-anchored evidence for funders, partners, and the public. Core technical components include an Interactive Project Map, Map Embed widget (iframe-based deployment into customer sites), a geo-analytics dashboard for deforestation and fire detection, a Satellite Timeline drawing on a 2015-present archive via NICFI PlanetLabs and ESRI Wayback, 30+ thematic data layers (forest cover change, fire alerts, biodiversity intactness, carbon, soil), a Theory of Change tool linked to spatial evidence, and an API for integration with donor reporting and certification systems. The platform hosts 2,000+ projects from 900+ organizations and targets four primary customer segments: restoration and conservation NGOs, corporate ESG teams, foundations and funders, and business coalitions/alliances.
The company operates a hybrid SaaS-plus-services business model. Platform access is sold in four tiers: a Free tier (1 project), Starter at €49/month per project, Pro at €99/month, and Enterprise with custom multi-year contracts. Beyond self-serve subscriptions, OpenForests generates revenue through professional consultancy engagements organized into three phases—Assess & Design, Build & Implement, and Monitor & Report—covering solution architecture, custom software development, integrations, data onboarding, MEL consultancy, and geospatial/remote sensing analysis. Custom solutions (e.g., embedded maps, custom dashboards, registry infrastructure) are built for specific client needs and contribute a project-based revenue stream. Distribution is multi-channel: PLG onboarding via the free tier, embedded map distribution into partner websites (white-label/OEM), direct enterprise field sales, and partnership-driven reach through technology integrators.
Founded in 2011 by Alexander Watson (CEO/CFO), Stefan Haas (Chief Solution Architect), and Dr. Patrick Ribeiro (Chief Product Officer) as a forestry consultancy, OpenForests launched the explorer.land platform in 2018 and converted it to a SaaS model in 2020. The company is privately held, self-funded through operating revenue, and reports no institutional investment rounds in the available material. Headcount stands at approximately 25 full-time employees distributed globally across multiple time zones. Operations span EMEA (Germany, Switzerland), LATAM (Mexico), and a global remote footprint.
OpenForests firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- OpenForests
- Legal name
- OpenForests UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
- Website
- https://openforests.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- OpenForests operates explorer.land, a SaaS geo-transparency platform that helps conservation NGOs, corporate ESG teams, foundations, and business coalitions map, monitor, and report verifiable impact for nature-based restoration and carbon projects across 2,000+ mapped sites.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
OpenForests industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Environmental monitoring and nature-based solutions transparency software
- NAICS
- Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- GIS & Spatial Data Management Platforms (BPAMANAK)
Keywords
Where OpenForests is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Krefeld
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
OpenForests business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- SaaS Platform Subscriptions: Tiered subscription model for explorer.land platform: Free (1 project), Starter (49€/month/project), Pro (99€/month). Enterprise custom pricing. Revenue recurs monthly as organizations scale their project portfolios.
- Professional Services & Consultancy: Expert consultancy across three phases: Assess & Design, Build & Implement, Monitor & Report. Includes solution architecture, custom software development, integration, data onboarding, MEL consultancy, and geospatial consultancy. One-time and retainer engagements.
- Custom Solutions: Fully tailored software solutions for organizations with unique needs. Includes custom embedded maps (Wyss Academy case study), custom dashboards, and specialized digital infrastructure. Project-based pricing.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free forever for organizations putting their first project on the map |
| Subscription | Monthly | For teams managing and communicating a restoration portfolio |
| Subscription | Monthly | For organizations proving impact to funders and partners |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | For initiatives needing custom monitoring and compliance-grade reporting |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
OpenForests product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OpenForests sells the explorer.land SaaS platform, a web-based geo-transparency system that lets nature-based projects create interactive maps, monitor impact via satellite and field data, and generate stakeholder and compliance reports. It also provides expert consultancy (Assess & Design, Build & Implement, Monitor & Report) and fully tailored custom software solutions for organizations with unique transparency, monitoring, and reporting needs.
Product overview
OpenForests operates a platform-plus-services model built around its core SaaS platform explorer.land, which offers three integrated capability areas: Map (Interactive Project Map, Map Embed, Public Project Directory, Sponsor Portal, Geo-analytics), Monitor (Impact Monitoring, Theory of Change Tool, 30+ Data Layers, Satellite Timeline), and Report (stakeholder reporting aligned with TNFD, CSRD, and EUDR). The platform is available in four pricing tiers: Free, Starter (€49/month), Pro (€99/month), and Enterprise. Alongside the self-serve SaaS platform, OpenForests provides Custom Solutions and Consultancy Services organized across three phases — Assess & Design, Build & Implement, and Monitor & Report — covering solution architecture, software development, integrations, data onboarding, MEL consultancy, remote sensing, and geospatial consultancy. The company also develops tailored custom solutions for specific client needs.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- explorer.land: A digital landscape platform for forest and conservation projects to map their work, monitor impact using satellite data, and share transparent reporting. Launched in 2018, transitioned to SaaS in 2020. Hosts 2,000+ projects from 900+ organizations.
Products and services
- explorer.land Platform Web-based geo-transparency SaaS platform that combines interactive project mapping, satellite-based monitoring (NICFI PlanetLabs and ESRI Wayback timeline), 30+ thematic data layers, geo-analytics with deforestation and fire alerts, Theory of Change-linked reporting, and embeddable white-label maps. Available in Free, Starter (€49/month/project), Pro (€99/month), and Enterprise tiers; used by NGOs, corporate ESG teams, foundations, and multi-stakeholder coalitions to demonstrate verifiable nature-based impact.
- Consultancy Services (Assess & Design, Build & Implement, Monitor & Report) Three-phase expert consultancy offering for nature-based project implementers, corporates, and funders. Assess & Design covers solution architecture, audit, Theory of Change, and data mapping; Build & Implement covers software development, integrations, and data onboarding; Monitor & Report covers impact monitoring, MEL consultancy, remote sensing, and geospatial consultancy. Delivered as one-time and retainer engagements.
- Custom Solutions Fully tailored software solutions for organizations with unique transparency, monitoring, and reporting needs, including custom embedded maps, custom dashboards, data pipelines, and platform extensions. Delivered as project-based engagements, with reference deployments including the Wyss Academy embedded map and other coalition-specific builds.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2,000+ projects geo-anchored, monitored, and visible
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use OpenForests
Customer profileNamed customers21 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
OpenForests technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature8 records
OpenForests partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.
- biometrio.earthsupportingPartnership announced October 2025 to enhance biodiversity monitoring capabilities on the explorer.land platform.
- EcoRegistrycorePartnership to boost transparency in nature-based carbon markets. United to create a more transparent carbon ecosystem.
- GlobhecorePartnership announced October 2024 for drone data integration into explorer.land platform.
- GlobhecoreGlobal Drone Data provider for digital twins and AI. Partnership enables integration of drone data into explorer.land monitoring workflows for enhanced field verification.
- NadarsupportingSatellite- and AI-powered insights on natural ecosystems, deforestation, and carbon stocks. Provides analytical data layers for platform monitoring.
- VardacoreField ID technology for supply chain traceability and regulatory compliance. Partnership announced October 2024 to revolutionize global supply chain transparency.
- ReWild AfricasupportingGroundtruth with film and photography. Partnership enables visual storytelling connected to project locations on explorer.land.
- ChangeNOWsupportingNature Positive Consortium contributor. Selected for ChangeNOW 2025 to join Paris event for climate solutions.
- Nature Data AlliancesupportingContributing to Nature Positive Consortium. Alliance focused on nature data standards and transparency.
- EMMA4EUsupportingContributing to Nature Positive Consortium. Partner for deforestation-free supply chain management training and standards.
- Global Forest WatchsupportingUsed as reference point in company's evolution. Inspired expansion from consulting to platform scale after seeing deforestation visualization at scale.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
OpenForests competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Restor: PLG web platform for mapping and monitoring ecological restoration projects. Comparable because it competes directly for the same NGO and coalition customers, uses a freemium model with paid tiers, and overlays project-level geospatial data on global basemaps.
- Global Forest Watch: World Resources Institute's open platform for deforestation and forest-cover monitoring. Comparable because it offers satellite-driven forest transparency dashboards at no cost - the same problem space OpenForests targets with a paid, project-anchored SaaS.
- LandScale: An assessment framework and platform for landscape-level sustainability outcomes. Comparable because it operates upstream - LandScale is even shown as an OpenForests customer logo - and provides the kind of integrated impact-rating layer OpenForests couples with geo-anchored monitoring.
- EcoRegistry: Carbon registry infrastructure provider that OpenForests has a Core partnership with. Comparable because both target transparent, audited nature-based carbon projects and compete for the same NGO/corporate carbon-market stakeholders.
Emerging players
- Sylvera: Carbon-credit ratings and monitoring business focused on verifying forest carbon projects. Comparable because it overlaps with the MRV and carbon-transparency layer of explorer.land while building toward enterprise buyers in voluntary carbon markets.
- Pachama: Carbon credit marketplace combining satellite data with on-the-ground verification. Comparable because it monetizes nature-based carbon transparency through a tech platform competing for the same corporate carbon buyers and forest-project operators.
- Terrastories: Open-source, place-based storytelling and mapping app mentioned directly in an OpenForests testimonial. Comparable because it covers community-led, geo-located storytelling for nature and cultural-heritage projects - an adjacent niche to explorer.land's geo-located updates.
- Upstream Tech: Nature-based solutions analytics platform using satellite and environmental data for carbon and water impact. Comparable because it focuses on the same corporate ESG / nature-tech buyer and uses similar remote-sensing + GIS stack to deliver program-level reporting.
Broad incumbents
- DroneDeploy: Aerial data capture and mapping platform across industries including agriculture, forestry, and construction. Comparable because it sells enterprise-grade geospatial monitoring and analytics with similar real-world visualization capabilities, just at much larger scale and contract sizes.
- Esri (ArcGIS): Dominant GIS platform with imagery services (ArcGIS Online, Wayback Imagery) that OpenForests already integrates with. Comparable because Esri powers much of the underlying mapping and spatial analytics ecosystem OpenForests sells on top of, and competes at the high end of the geospatial market.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
OpenForests social profiles
Digital presenceOpenForests financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
OpenForests leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
OpenForests funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
OpenForests 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 OpenForests
What does OpenForests do?
OpenForests sells the explorer.land SaaS platform, a web-based geo-transparency system that lets nature-based projects create interactive maps, monitor impact via satellite and field data, and generate stakeholder and compliance reports. It also provides expert consultancy (Assess & Design, Build & Implement, Monitor & Report) and fully tailored custom software solutions for organizations with unique transparency, monitoring, and reporting needs.
Is OpenForests a public or private company?
OpenForests is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was OpenForests founded?
OpenForests was founded in 2011. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is OpenForests based?
OpenForests is headquartered in Krefeld, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does OpenForests make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. SaaS Platform Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are professional Services & Consultancy and custom Solutions.
Who are OpenForests's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Restor, Global Forest Watch, LandScale and EcoRegistry. Emerging players are Sylvera, Pachama, Terrastories and Upstream Tech. Broad incumbents are DroneDeploy and Esri (ArcGIS).
Does OpenForests have an API?
Yes. An API lets larger programmes exchange monitoring data between explorer.land and their own systems, including MRV stacks and donor reporting pipelines. This enables geo-anchored evidence to flow into organisations' existing systems without re-keying or maintaining multiple sources of truth.
What industry is OpenForests in?
OpenForests's product category is Environmental monitoring and nature-based solutions transparency software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMANAK, GIS & Spatial Data Management Platforms. Its NAICS code is 541370 and its SIC code is 7372.