🐨 Xylo Systems - Biodiversity Intelligence for Nature-Positive Development [BA+ 2023]
TLDR; Xylo Systems saves property & infrastructure developers on the time & money spent on environmental impact assessments - making 100M+ biodiversity datapoints available with the click of a button
The problem: Nature is a blind spot for property & infrastructure development companies, despite its importance for their operations and people.
In Nevada last year, for example, plans to build a new $68M power plant were halted in its tracks when the Endangered Species Act gave legal protection for the endangered and endemic Dixie Valley toad found near the construction site. And in Australia, one housing developer was fined $250,000 for clearing endangered black cockatoo habitat in contravention of federal laws protecting threatened species.
Why is nature a blind spot, you might ask? Some reasons include:
Most biodiversity data is locked up in the text of academic papers in unstandardized data formats; even aggregated databases such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility is still time-intensive to parse through if evaluating a specific site
Because bringing in external ecological consultants to conduct environmental impact assessments can be costly, property developers may bring them in only at later stages of project development to comply with what’s legally required of them - by which it might be too late.
The Solution: Xylo System’s cloud-based, integrated data and AI software platform combines over 100 million data points on biodiversity, to provide simplified and actionable insights for property developers when they need it most.
The platform’s features include:
Data validation and verification: Through a rigourous process based on advanced algorithms and quality control measures, Xylo Systems automatically identifies and rectifies any inconsistencies or errors in the collected data - to ensure that data is reliable and accurate.
High-level of user flexibility and security: Users of the Xylo platfom can refine their analytics with a “Bring Your Own Data” option, combined with intuitive filtering capabilities to explore different species types, conservation status, and time frames. Protected by multi-factor authentication, Users can also trust that with Xylo’s state-of-the-art data security measures, their data is in trustworthy hands.
Smart insights: Based on its analytics, the Xylo platform identifies actions to take to alleviate pressures on ecosystems and aligns those actions with globally recognised, science based targets.
Tailored reporting, in compliance with global frameworks: With its fit for purpose reporting tools, users can effortlessly generate comprehensive reports in line with the requirements of industry guidelines such as the Task Force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures.
Trusted by clients such as Endeavour Energy, Development Victoria, and Brookfield, Xylo’s product helps companies manage their biodiversity risks and impacts with ease.
Meet the team: Co-founders Camille Goldstein-Henry (CEO) and Jada Anderson (CTO) are ecologists and mathematicians by training, but met and connected based on their shared passion for finding market-oriented solutions to protecting what they love.
Since they started the business, Xylo has gone on to be named one of the Australian Green Power Players and the KPMG Nature-Positive Challenge Winners, on top of being selected for the Biodiversity Accelerator+ 2023 cohort.
Get to know these founders better with a round of quick-fire questions and answers with the team from the Biodiversity Accelerator+:
💡 Biodiversity Accelerator+: How did you first come up with the idea to build the Xylo platform? Has the platform evolved a lot from your original vision?
➡️ Camille & Jada: Xylo Systems was born out of frustration working as conservation scientists and ecologists. The manual method of data collection and entry meant that it would take up to a year to get insights into how to manage and save critically endangered species. And when you’re working with critically endangered species, that is far too long. With biodiversity loss at unprecedented rates, we both were driven by finding more efficient ways to save our wildlife, which led us to tech and AI!
Because of our backgrounds, Xylo originally started as a platform for those working on the ground conserving wildlife but, along our journey, we noticed a shift in the corporate ESG space. Big businesses were starting to think about their larger impact on the climate beyond emissions, including biodiversity and nature, but had no idea where to start. In 2022, 2 years after founding Xylo Systems, we decided to pivot our data platform to focus on the growing need for businesses to understand and mitigate their impacts on biodiversity. We realised that by working for both those conserving and those impacting wildlife, we could have a much bigger impact.
💡 Biodiversity Accelerator+: What’s one thing you’ve learned since you started your business that has helped you improve it significantly?
➡️ Camille & Jada: Dealing with rejection! A mentor once told us to “have a spoonful of rejection every morning for breakfast”, because the sooner you can deal with all the no’s that come your way as a founder, and there are a lot from investors, customers etc., the quicker you can move. Learning that rejection is a big part of the startup journey and learning how to get to a no faster has enabled us to learn, adapt and grow faster.
💡 Biodiversity Accelerator+: There are a number of new companies coming into the biodiversity analytics space, as the world stage puts more emphasis on the protection and restoration of nature. How do you set your business apart from others in your industry?
➡️ Camille & Jada: We set ourselves apart in 2 ways: firstly, as scientists with a deep understanding of biodiversity data, we have a science-led approach to platform development. Currently, we are seeing technology specialists moving into the biodiversity space rather than the other direction, but building biodiversity analytics requires a deep understanding of ecosystems, populations and species to understand the data. Secondly, we’re focused on particular industries, including property development and energy. These sectors have a direct and significant impact on biodiversity, which means we can have a positive impact faster with our technology.
💡 Biodiversity Accelerator+: What’s one thing you would like to ask of anybody reading this post?
➡️ Camille & Jada: Support us on our mission by signing up for our mailing list here. If you’d like to hear more about the work we are doing, listen and subscribe to our podcast, The Nature Positive Network!
Want to learn more about Xylo? Check out their website and Linkedin for more updates!
Learn more about the Biodiversity Accelerator+ at our website today.