BirdView InsectCassette

Mosquitoes stand as the most lethal creatures on Earth, claiming millions of lives annually and predominantly impacting lower-income regions, where they strike the most vulnerable communities. Traditional methods of controlling these vectors primarily rely on chemical insecticides. However, this approach leads to the development of molecule resistance among mosquitoes, sparking a cycle of escalating insecticide use with diminishing effectiveness and increasing toxicity.

The hard limints on both toxicity and application frequency compel us to explore alternative strategies. Integrated pest management (IPM) emerges as a promising solution, leveraging a multifaceted approach to combat these pests effectively. In urban environments, particularly concerning mosquitoes, IPM extends beyond chemical solutions to encompass a holistic array of interventions.

In addition to chemical insecticides, this approach incorporates the strategic use of mosquito netting and repellants, alongside mechanical interventions aimed at eliminating breeding sites. Crucially, biological pest control strategies play a pivotal role in this comprehensive framework.

Biological pest control encompasses both microbial and macrobial approaches. Microbial interventions harness the power of bacteria and fungi, while macrobial methods enlist beneficial insects. By integrating these biological strategies into our pest management efforts, we can disrupt the cycle of insecticide resistance and mitigate the enduring threat posed by mosquitoes and other disease vectors.

Without embracing these multifaceted approaches, the trajectory of insecticide resistance will persist, exacerbating the suffering inflicted by these relentless vectors. It is imperative that we adopt integrated pest management strategies to safeguard global health and well-being against this formidable adversary.

One of the key problems with the widespread adoption of biological pest control (parricularly macrobial) is that these strategies are not cost effective enough to be attractive to public planners and authorities.

Our innovative solution tackles the challenge of pest control by offering an affordable and user-friendly packaging and release system for beneficial insects.

Central to our system is its modularity, consisting of a cartridge and release mechanism. This design facilitates the packaging of beneficial insects at insectaries, ensuring their safe transportation to release sites while maintaining optimal thermal conditions. Consequently, our system minimizes damage and stress to the insects, allowing them to exhibit competitive performance compared to their wild counterparts upon release.

A key application of our solution is in the deployment of sterile male mosquitoes in disease hotspots. By introducing these mosquitoes into the wild, they can mate with wild females, resulting in eggs that fail to hatch. This approach, known as the sterile insect technique, has a proven track record spanning decades and has effectively controlled pest populations in various countries, including the successful eradication of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly by the USDA in the USA.

Our technology revolutionizes the scalability of the sterile insect technique, enabling decentralized operations with accessible and straightforward equipment. This decentralization not only reduces the costs associated with pest management but also generates high-quality employment opportunities in regions most in need.

With numerous successful pilots already completed, our technology has demonstrated impressive results. Our recent recognition in an MIT Technology Review article underscores the significance of our contribution to pest management solutions.

For more information on our groundbreaking technology, please refer to the MIT Technology Review article available at: [link].

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/03/21/1090033/startup-fight-dengue-drones/

Our solution is designed to serve communities in regions heavily burdened by mosquito-borne diseases, particularly in low-income areas where access to effective pest control measures is limited. The target population comprises individuals and families living in these disease hotspots, often facing significant health and economic challenges due to the prevalence of diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and Zika virus.

Currently, these communities are underserved in several ways. Firstly, they often lack access to essential passive protection methods such as mosquito repellents and bed nets, leaving them vulnerable to mosquito bites and the diseases they carry. Secondly, conventional pest control strategies, which may rely heavily on costly chemical insecticides, are often unsustainable in these resource-constrained settings. Lastly, the economic burden of treating mosquito-borne illnesses places immense strain on already stretched healthcare systems, diverting resources away from other critical healthcare needs and perpetuating cycles of poverty and ill health.

Our solution directly addresses these challenges by providing a long term, affordable, sustainable, and accessible approach to mosquito control. By deploying sterile male mosquitoes using our innovative packaging and release system, we disrupt the reproductive cycle of mosquito populations, ultimately reducing disease transmission within these vulnerable communities.

Moreover, our decentralized approach empowers local communities to take proactive measures in managing mosquito populations, creating employment opportunities and fostering resilience against the spread of diseases. By alleviating the economic and health burdens associated with mosquito-borne illnesses, our solution aims to meaningfully improve the lives of those most affected by these devastating diseases.

Our team's expertise extends beyond public health into community development and environmental conservation. While our backgrounds may not be directly representative of the communities we serve, our experiences in Brazil have provided us with valuable insights and a deep connection to the challenges faced by those living in dengue hotspots and underserved areas.

One of the strengths of our solution lies in its decentralized operations. By empowering local communities to take ownership of pest management efforts, we not only increase the effectiveness of our approach but also foster job creation in these regions. Through training programs and capacity-building initiatives, community members can become involved in the packaging and release of sterile mosquitoes, providing them with valuable employment opportunities and contributing to local economic development.

Moreover, our packaging system is versatile and can be repurposed for initiatives beyond mosquito control. Recognizing the importance of environmental conservation, we are exploring the use of our technology for forest restoration efforts. By utilizing the same packaging system to release blends of native seeds, we aim to restore degraded ecosystems and promote biodiversity conservation in areas affected by deforestation and habitat loss.

Our Team Lead's background in community development further strengthens our commitment to serving the needs of underserved populations. With experience in building sanitation works and other infrastructure in poor communities, our Team Lead brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our efforts. This firsthand experience informs our approach and ensures that our solutions are not only technically sound but also culturally sensitive and responsive to the unique needs of the communities we serve.

We are operating commercially releasing beneficial insects to control agricultural pests, having over the years released biologicals in over 1 million acres of crops.

Specifically regarding the release of sterile mosquitoes, we have operated several pilot (neighbourhood scale) projects in two Brazilian states as well as trials in Florida.

Our equipment has been validated by bench tests as well as evaluated in the field, both in terms of Mark Release Recapture (to assess the insects dispersal) as well as larval counts in ovitramps (to assess effectivity). The results have been very promising.

We are applying to Solve because we believe in the power of collaboration and innovation to address pressing global challenges. By participating in Solve, we aim to leverage its extensive network of partners and resources to overcome specific barriers hindering the implementation and scalability of our solution.

One significant barrier we face is the need for technical expertise and support to further develop and refine our innovative packaging and release system for beneficial insects, particularly in regards to electronics and material properties. While our team possesses strong domain knowledge and practical experience, we recognize the value of additional technical input to optimize our solution's performance and scalability.

Additionally, navigating legal and regulatory frameworks, particularly regarding the deployment organisms such as sterile mosquitoes, presents a complex challenge. We hope Solve can facilitate connections with legal experts and regulatory authorities to ensure compliance and streamline the approval process for our solution's implementation.

Moreover, cultural and market barriers may influence the adoption and acceptance of our solution within target communities. We aim to leverage Solve's diverse community and cross-sector partnerships to gain insights into local cultural contexts and market dynamics, enabling us to tailor our approach and effectively engage with stakeholders.

Overall, we believe Solve's collaborative platform can help us overcome these barriers by connecting us with the right partners and resources to advance our solution. Through both monetary and non-monetary support, Solve can catalyze our efforts to combat mosquito-borne diseases and promote environmental conservation, ultimately making a meaningful difference in the lives of those we aim to serve.

Our solution innovates across multiple fronts. Firstly, we've crafted a modular packaging and release system tailored for beneficial insects like sterile mosquitoes, ensuring their safe transport and strategic deployment in target areas. This system minimizes insect stress and damage, thus optimizing their efficacy in controlling mosquito populations. Secondly, our solution boasts versatility and scalability, extending its utility beyond mosquito control. We repurpose the same packaging system to release blends of native seeds, facilitating forest restoration efforts and promoting biodiversity conservation. Thirdly, through decentralized operations, we empower local communities to spearhead pest management efforts. By offering training and capacity-building initiatives, we not only create employment opportunities but also foster economic development in underserved regions. Moreover, our approach prioritizes community input, ensuring cultural appropriateness and widespread acceptance within target communities.

This innovative approach holds promise for catalyzing broader positive impacts in pest management and environmental conservation. By showcasing the efficacy of our modular packaging and release system, we inspire others to explore similar solutions for diverse pest control challenges worldwide. Additionally, our emphasis on decentralized operations and community empowerment sets a precedent for sustainable, community-driven approaches to public health and environmental management. 

Our solution has the potential to disrupt the market landscape by providing a cost-effective and scalable alternative to traditional pest control methods. By demonstrating its viability and impact, we aim to garner investment and adoption from governments, NGOs, and private sector stakeholders, driving widespread adoption and significant improvements in public health and environmental sustainability.

We believe our solution holds the promise of catalyzing positive change and creating lasting impacts in communities affected by mosquito-borne diseases and environmental degradation.

Our solution aims to tackle the problem of mosquito-borne diseases through a comprehensive approach to pest management. By implementing a modular packaging and release system for beneficial insects, such as sterile male mosquitoes, alongside training and capacity-building initiatives for local communities, we anticipate several key outcomes.

In the short term, our activities will result in the development and deployment of the packaging system, as well as the training of community members in pest management techniques. This will lead to immediate outputs such as a reduction in mosquito populations and mosquito-borne disease transmission, as well as improved economic opportunities and community empowerment through employment and capacity-building initiatives.

Over the long term, we expect broader positive impacts to emerge. These include improved public health outcomes, increased biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience through forest restoration efforts, and enhanced community resilience to future disease outbreaks. Additionally, by demonstrating the effectiveness and scalability of our approach, we aim to influence policy and practice in pest management and environmental conservation, leading to sustained improvements in public health and environmental sustainability on a larger scale.

This theory of change is supported by evidence from research on integrated pest management strategies, as well as data from interviews and consultations with our target population. Through our systematic and evidence-based approach, we anticipate achieving meaningful and lasting impacts on the problem of mosquito-borne diseases and environmental degradation.

Our solution's impact goals are multifaceted, aiming for a transformative effect on both public health and environmental conservation. Firstly, we aim to significantly reduce the incidence of mosquito-borne diseases in target communities. Tracking indicators such as reported cases of diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and Zika virus, alongside trends in mosquito populations and disease transmission rates, will gauge our progress towards this goal.

Secondly, our forest restoration efforts seek to promote environmental conservation and biodiversity. We'll measure progress by monitoring the area of degraded ecosystems restored, the diversity of species supported by restored habitats, and improvements in ecosystem resilience.

Empowering local communities is a core objective. We'll track indicators like the number of community members trained in pest management techniques, new employment opportunities created, and improvements in community resilience and self-reliance.

Lastly, we aim to influence policy and practice in pest management and environmental conservation. We'll monitor indicators such as the adoption of our integrated pest management approach by governments, implementation of supportive policies, and the replication of our solution in other regions or countries.

Through regular data collection, analysis, and stakeholder feedback, we'll assess our progress towards these impact goals and refine our approach for maximum effectiveness and sustainability.

Our solution integrates a diverse array of innovative technologies alongside traditional ecological knowledge to address the challenge of mosquito-borne diseases and environmental conservation. Central to our approach is the use of a modular packaging and release system, which ensures the safe transportation and precise deployment of beneficial insects, such as sterile mosquitoes and drones. This technology minimizes stress and damage to the insects, maximizing their effectiveness in controlling mosquito populations through their homogenous release in an affordable manner.

In addition to modern technologies, we recognize the importance of traditional ecological knowledge systems in informing our approach. Pest control by leveraging natural enemies, for instance, is a centuries-old technique with significant application in agriculture and food security. By integrating indigenous practices and ancestral wisdom, we respect and honor local cultures while leveraging time-tested techniques for pest management and environmental conservation.

Furthermore, we utilize remote sensing technologies and geographic information systems to identify mosquito hotspots and target areas for intervention. Digital platforms such as mobile apps and SMS technology facilitate community engagement and participation, empowering local communities to take ownership of pest management efforts.

Biological control agents, including sterile mosquitoes, predators and parasitoids, form another cornerstone of our solution. These agents offer a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to chemical insecticides, minimizing harm to non-target species and reducing the risk of resistance development.

Data analytics and machine learning algorithms play a crucial role in optimizing our pest management strategies. By analyzing vast amounts of data collected from field operations and community feedback, we can identify patterns and trends in mosquito populations and disease transmission dynamics, enabling us to make data-driven decisions for maximum impact.

Through the integration of modern technologies and traditional ecological knowledge, our solution offers a holistic and inclusive approach to addressing the complex challenges of mosquito-borne diseases and environmental conservation.

We have confidence in the effectiveness of our technology based on several factors. Firstly, the sterile insect technique, which forms a core component of our approach, has been utilized for decades and has undergone rigorous testing and validation worldwide. This technique has been proven to effectively control insect populations, including mosquitoes and fruit flies, by releasing sterile males to mate with wild females, thus reducing the overall population size. Below are links to some articles about the Sterile Insect Technique iun general and its specific application to mosquito control

- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanam/article/PIIS2667-193X(23)00072-8/fulltext

- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1600222/

- https://journals.lww.com/mamc/fulltext/2020/06010/sterile_insect_technique__the_future_strategy_to.8.aspx

- https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/mosquito-control/community/emerging-methods/irradiated.html

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8148114/

- https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/ipc-fruit_flies-sterile-insect-technique-1975.pdf

- https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/internationalservices/sterile-fly-release-programs

Additionally, our specific technology has been validated by the Entomology Laboratory of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from the United Nations. The results of our technology's validation, including its application with the Aedes aegypti mosquito species and the Glossina species responsible for transmitting tsetse disease, will soon be published in an academic paper. 

Furthermore, our solution has gained recognition and validation through external sources. We were recently featured in an MIT Technology Review article, highlighting the innovative nature of our technology and its potential impact on addressing global health challenges.

- https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/03/21/1090033/startup-fight-dengue-drones/

While we await the publication of the academic paper, these endorsements and validations from reputable organizations and publications serve as strong indicators of the effectiveness and real-world applicability of our technology in combating mosquito-borne diseases.

We currently have a 3 person fulltime staff and a 5 person part time staff as part of our R&D projects with universities and research organizations.

We have been working on releasing beneficial insects for pest control since 2015. Up until 2020 we performed aerial release services in agriculture and have logged over 13,000 commercial drone flights. In 2021 we started working on sterile insects, specifically with the Aedes egyptii.

As a team, we understand the vital role diversity, equity, and inclusion play in fostering innovation and creating a supportive work environment. While our current leadership team may not fully reflect the diversity we aspire to achieve, we are dedicated to actively promoting diversity and inclusion within our ranks.

To ensure our team minimizes barriers to opportunity and cultivates a welcoming environment for all, we've established clear goals for enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. These goals encompass various aspects:

We aim to implement inclusive recruitment and hiring practices that actively seek out candidates from diverse backgrounds. By casting a wide net and removing biases from our selection processes, we strive to attract talent from underrepresented groups.

Valuing diverse perspectives is fundamental to our team culture. We actively solicit input from individuals with different backgrounds, experiences, and identities, recognizing the richness of ideas that arise from diverse viewpoints.

Equal opportunities for professional development and advancement are essential. We're committed to providing resources, training programs, and mentorship opportunities to support the growth and career progression of all team members.

Creating a safe and supportive environment is paramount. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination, harassment, or exclusionary behavior, fostering an inclusive culture where everyone feels valued and respected.

While we acknowledge that building a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive team is an ongoing journey, we're committed to taking meaningful steps to create an environment where all team members can thrive and contribute to our collective success.

Our business model centers on delivering efficient pest management solutions while ensuring sustainable revenue streams in a decentralized inclusive way. We achieve this by offering modular packaging and release systems for beneficial insects on a rental basis, which helps reduce technical and financial barriers to entry for prospective local aerial applicators. 

Our customers, typically governments, insectaries, or agricultural organizations, pay a fee based on the usage of the equipment per acre of land. This rental model provides flexibility and cost-effectiveness, as customers only pay for the equipment they use.

In addition to equipment rental, we provide comprehensive training and ongoing support to our customers. This includes initial training on how to effectively use the equipment, as well as ongoing technical assistance and troubleshooting support. By ensuring our customers are well-equipped and supported, we enhance the success and sustainability of our pest management solutions.

We also take responsibility for maintaining the equipment and replacing any parts or components as needed. This minimizes downtime for our customers and ensures continuous operations. By offering reliable and responsive maintenance and replacement services, we build trust and long-term relationships with our customers.

Moreover, our business model is designed to be responsive to seasonal demands and fluctuations in customer needs. We maintain an elastic supply of equipment to accommodate variations in demand throughout the year. This guarantees customer uptime and allows for seamless operations, even during peak pest seasons.

Our business model also incorporates a web-based coverage path planning system designed to optimize flight plans and manage post-flight application reports, plans, and logs. This system enhances operational efficiency by streamlining the planning process and ensuring accurate documentation of pest management activities. Customers benefit from increased precision and effectiveness in their pest control efforts, while also enjoying greater transparency and accountability in reporting. By integrating this advanced technology into our service offerings, we further enhance the value proposition for our customers and differentiate ourselves in the market.

Overall, our business model is structured to align the interests of our customers with our goal of providing effective and sustainable pest management solutions. By offering flexible rental options, comprehensive training and support, reliable maintenance services, and elastic supply, we deliver value to our customers while generating revenue to support our operations and continued innovation.

We fund our work primarily through the operation of unmanned aerial application services to agricultural clients. Although we have pivoted away from large scale aerial application service provision to focus on our technology, this activity brings in revenue at good margins to enable not only continual improvement of the technology, but also self financing. In such a way we have so far managed to keep our captable 'clean' meaning the only equity owners at this point are the founders. Our year on year revenue since pivoting in 2021 is approximately USD 70,000, prior to that it was approximately USD 250,000 which enabled us to accumulate resources for continual investment

Another source of funding we have used and are actively seeking are grants. To date we have received one grant in 2023 from Fapesp (a Sao Paulo state research funding organization) in the amount of USD 60,000.

We are actively seeking further grants and evaluating options for receiving external financing from venture capital or other investors.

We are also fully equipped and ready to increase our operations and expect our revenue to grow in the coming year.