What infoflora does

InfoFlora is a Swiss nonprofit private foundation (gemeinnützige, privatrechtliche Stiftung), established in 1994 in Geneva and operating as the official National Data and Information Center on Swiss flora. It was co-founded by the City of Geneva, Pro Natura, the Swiss Botanical Society (SBG), and the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences (sc-nat), and is supported operationally by cantonal conservation authorities, RegioFlora, and the Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU). The organization maintains a centralized national flora database aggregating all occurrence reports and information on Switzerland's ~4,000 wild plant species, including 88 invasive or potentially invasive neophyte classifications. It operates through four office locations in Geneva, Bern, Lugano, and Zollikofen, with a staff of approximately 16 employees.

The foundation's product portfolio centers on a multilingual web platform (infoflora.ch, available in German, French, Italian, and English) and mobile applications. Core tools include FlorApp (field identification), InvasivApp (invasive neophyte reporting), the Online Fieldbook Version 4.0, the Neophyte Field Book, FlorID (identification platform at florid.ch), an interactive Distribution Atlas, the Green List decision-support tool, and structured citizen-science programs (Mission Flora, Mission Aquatica, Mission Rote Liste). Authoritative reference products include the National Red List 2016, Regional Red List 2019, the December 2021 BAFU-commissioned list of invasive neophytes, TypoCH and Phytosuisse habitat typologies, and SBG-issued Bellis/Iris/Dryas botanical certifications. All core services are provided free of charge to the public.

InfoFlora's business model is nonprofit and publicly funded. It has no commercial revenue streams; access to data, tools, and identification platforms is provided without charge. Services serve five primary user groups: general public and citizen scientists contributing observations; conservation experts and practitioners using data for Red List monitoring and reintroduction programs; researchers and academics; botany students enrolled in certification courses; and cantonal/regional conservation authorities coordinating inventories and invasive species control. Customer engagement is driven entirely through digital channels, multilingual outreach, and institutional partnerships.

Name

infoflora

Legal name

InfoFlora

Website

https://infoflora.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

InfoFlora is Switzerland's official National Data and Information Center for wild flora, a nonprofit foundation operating a centralized species database, mobile identification apps (FlorApp, InvasivApp), citizen-science programs, and conservation tools serving the public, researchers, conservation experts, and cantonal authorities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biodiversity Data Services

NAICS

Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (924), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519), Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Monitoring, Data & Reporting (Air/Water/Soil) (BPAIAMAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Geospatial Data Management & Enterprise GIS (Geodatabases, Web GIS, Spatial Analytics) (EUAHAKAC), Decision Support & Agronomic Modeling (Yield, Irrigation, Pest/Disease Forecasting) (AFAAAFAF), Farm Management & Decision Support Software (FMIS, ERP, Recordkeeping) (AFAGALAA)

Keywords

• Flora documentation
• Biodiversity data center
• Citizen science platform
• Plant conservation
• Invasive species tracking

Headquarters

HQ city

Geneva (Chambésy)

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Public institution / foundation-based funding: InfoFlora is described as a nonprofit private foundation (gemeinnützige, privatrechtliche Stiftung). The foundation's activities are primarily publicly funded through government support. No commercial revenue streams are described in the source material.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

InfoFlora is the National Data and Information Center on Swiss Flora, operating a centralized national database that aggregates plant occurrence reports across all Swiss cantons. The foundation provides free digital tools for plant observation submission and species identification (FlorApp, InvasivApp, Online Fieldbook, FlorID), maintains authoritative national and regional Red Lists and invasive neophyte lists, and runs citizen-science programs (Mission Flora, Mission Aquatica) to coordinate flora monitoring by volunteers, researchers, and conservation professionals.

Product overview

InfoFlora is a nonprofit private law foundation serving as the National Data and Information Center on the Swiss Flora. The organization operates a comprehensive digital platform consisting of a central website providing species search, distribution atlas (atlas.infoflora.ch), taxonomy references, and conservation tools. The product portfolio includes mobile applications (FlorApp for plant identification, InvasivApp for invasive species), web-based field tools (Online Fieldbook v4.0, Neophyte Field Book), and citizen science programs (Mission Flora, Mission Aquatica). Additional offerings encompass habitat classification systems (TypoCH, Phytosuisse), downloadable species data products, the FlorID online identification tool, the Green List decision support tool, and botanical training courses with certification levels (Bellis 200, Iris 400, Dryas 600). The foundation maintains offices in Geneva, Bern, and Lugano, with headquarters at the Botanical Garden of Geneva.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FlorApp: Mobile application for plant identification and flora data collection in Switzerland
• InvasivApp
• FlorID
• Online Fieldbook (Version 4.0)
• Neophyte Fieldbook
• Grüne Liste-Tool (Green List Tool)

Products and services

• FlorApp Mobile Application

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Stadt Genf (City of Geneva)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1994One of the four founding members of the InfoFlora foundation. The City of Geneva co-founded the organization alongside Pro Natura, the Swiss Botanical Society (SBG), and the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences (sc-nat), establishing it as a multi-stakeholder nonprofit institution for the documentation and promotion of wild plants in Switzerland.
• Pro NaturacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1994One of the four founding members of the InfoFlora foundation. Pro Natura is a major Swiss nature conservation organization that co-founded InfoFlora as a multi-stakeholder nonprofit institution.
• Schweizerische Botanische Gesellschaft (SBG) (Swiss Botanical Society)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1994One of the four founding members of the InfoFlora foundation. The Swiss Botanical Society also offers field botany certifications (Bellis, Iris, Dryas levels; Graminoid supplementary certificate) through the InfoFlora platform, serving as the credentialing body for professional botanical training.
• Schweizerische Akademie der Naturwissenschaften (sc-nat) (Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1994One of the four founding members of the InfoFlora foundation. The Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences co-founded the organization as part of Switzerland's broader scientific infrastructure for biodiversity documentation.
• ZHAW (Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization contributing to the training and course offerings listed on InfoFlora's training platform. ZHAW collaborates with InfoFlora to deliver professional botanical education programs.
• FloraneuchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization contributing to the training and course offerings listed on InfoFlora's training platform.
• InfoSpecies (National Data Centres)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2018, InfoFlora has collaborated with InfoSpecies (the consortium of national data centres) and the Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU) to develop coordinated lists of invasive alien species in Switzerland. InfoFlora is responsible for vascular plants. InfoSpecies hosts the complete species data table for neophytes. This partnership produced the official December 2021 List of invasive and potentially invasive alien species in Switzerland.
• BAFU (Bundesamt für Umwelt / Federal Office for the Environment)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU/FOEN) commissioned the national data centres and InfoSpecies to develop coordinated lists of invasive alien species. BAFU published the official lists (Stand December 2021) as part of its publication 'Gebietsfremde Arten in der Schweiz' (Alien Species in Switzerland, 2022). InfoFlora contributes vascular plant assessments to this national framework. BAFU also provides official guidance on legal bases (Freisetzungsverordnung FrSV, Art. 15 and Annexes 2.1 and 2.2).
• Cercle Exotique (Working Group of the Cantonal Nature Conservation Authorities)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Cercle Exotique is the working group of cantonal exotic species enforcement authorities in Switzerland. They are responsible for coordinating the control of invasive neophytes across cantons and serve as the primary contact for combat measures against invasive neophytes on natural areas and agricultural land. They issue the 'Orientierungshilfe' (guidance document) for the enforcement of neophyte sales bans in Switzerland.
• RegioFlora (Regional Flora Centers)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegioFlora is the network of regional flora centers coordinated through BFH-HAFL in Zollikofen. InfoFlora works with regional inventories (Regionale Inventare) and RegioFlora to extend flora documentation across all Swiss cantons. Regional centers are listed as InfoFlora contact points alongside offices in Geneva, Bern, and Lugano.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pl@ntNet: Citizen-science plant identification platform using AI image recognition, jointly developed by CIRAD, INRAE, INRIA, and the Tela Botanica network. Closely comparable in offering AI-assisted plant ID, free public access, and crowdsourced biodiversity data accumulation.
• iNaturalist (California Academy of Sciences & National Geographic): Global citizen-science platform for recording and identifying biodiversity observations, including plants. Directly comparable in mission (crowdsourced flora data), technology (mobile apps, AI-assisted ID), and contributor experience (volunteer-driven observation submission), though operating at global rather than national scale.
• Tela Botanica: French botanical network operating the Pl@ntNet platform and maintaining extensive French flora databases. Comparable in mission (citizen-science botany), national mandate, training programs, and tools for flora observation and identification.
• InfoSpecies: Swiss consortium of national data centres covering fauna, fungi, and flora. Direct peer as the parent coordinating body InfoFlora collaborates with on BAFU-mandated invasive-species lists and biodiversity data standards.

Broad incumbents

• NatureServe: Nonprofit organization providing authoritative biodiversity data and Red List equivalents for North America. Comparable as a regional nonprofit network maintaining species conservation status databases and conservation data infrastructure.
• GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): International intergovernmental network providing open access to biodiversity data globally. InfoFlora contributes to GBIF; GBIF is comparable as a much larger biodiversity data infrastructure player operating at global scale.

Others

• ZHAW (Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften): Swiss University of Applied Sciences and InfoFlora partner contributing to botanical training and course offerings. Comparable as an applied science institution engaged in Swiss biodiversity education and applied research.
• Botanischer Garten (Botanical Gardens of the Universities of Bern and Geneva): Co-location partners of InfoFlora's Geneva and Bern offices. Comparable as Swiss botanical institutions supporting research, conservation, and public education, though operating as gardens/museums rather than data centres.
• Pro Natura: Switzerland's largest nature conservation NGO and a founding member of InfoFlora. Comparable as a Swiss biodiversity and conservation organization, though focused on habitat protection, policy advocacy, and reserves rather than data aggregation.

Emerging players

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird): Operator of eBird, the dominant citizen-science platform for bird observations. Comparable as a flagship model of academic-led, volunteer-driven biodiversity data infrastructure at scale — though species-focused on birds rather than plants.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/infoflora_ch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/infoflora

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about infoflora