Dryad Networks is a climate-tech company focused on ultra-early wildfire detection and forest monitoring using a large-scale IoT sensor network. Its flagship solution, Silvanet, combines solar-powered gas sensors, LoRaWAN connectivity, and cloud-based analytics to detect wildfires at their earliest stages—often hours before traditional systems. By addressing wildfires, a major contributor to global CO₂ emissions and biodiversity loss, Dryad delivers impact-driven technology designed to protect natural ecosystems at scale.
CEO and co-founder Carsten Brinkschulte’s career journey spans more than 25 years in telecommunications, software engineering, and entrepreneurship, including successful exits to BlackBerry and Twilio. Inspired by the increasing devastation from wildfires and climate activism close to home, Brinkschulte founded Dryad as his first hardware, impact-for-profit venture. His leadership blends deep technical expertise with a strong focus on culture, innovation, and purpose, driving Dryad’s mission to apply IoT and AI technologies to one of climate change’s most urgent challenges.
1. Career Journey: Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career, especially one that shaped your leadership approach at your current company?
The idea for Dryad was triggered in 2018 after we had sold my last company to Twilio. Having sold the company, I kind of fell into a hole, not knowing what to do next. At the same time, for me for the first time there were a lot of wildfires in the media, highlighting the scale of the problem. Simultaneously, in Europe we had the Fridays for Future movement with children taking it to the streets to protest against climate change, including my daughter. This was what flipped the switch and made me think about how I could apply telecoms and IoT technology to tackle wildfires, one of the most visible signs of climate change.
2. Career Path: What initially brought you to this specific career path, and how did it lead to your role in this company?
My background is software engineering and telecommunications. I have spent 25 years in the telecoms industry, starting and running three companies in the messaging and network infrastructure field with exits to Blackberry and Twilio. Dryad is my first hardware startup and my first “impact for profit” company, applying telecommunications and IoT technology to protect the natural ecosystems.
3. Company Differentiation: What makes your company stand out from competitors in the market? Can you share an example that highlights this?
Dryad is revolutionizing wildfire detection and prevention. We’re addressing a massive problem: the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires, particularly in the wildland urban interface. Our unique solution combines advanced sensor technology with AI-driven analytics to detect fires at their earliest stages, even before smoke columns are visible from afar. This rapid detection is crucial for saving lives, protecting property, and minimizing environmental damage.
Unlike satellite or camera-based systems that rely on visual cues, our sensors can detect fires when they’re still small, often hours before other methods. This early warning gives firefighters a critical advantage and greatly reduces the risk of devastating megafires. We’ve developed a low-cost, scalable network infrastructure that allows us to deploy thousands of sensors across vast areas, making our solution highly effective and affordable. Our focus on high-risk, high-value areas and in particular the wildland urban interface, makes us uniquely positioned to address the greatest risk and value.
4. Product Innovation: Are you working on any exciting new products or projects? How do you think this innovation will positively impact your customers?
We’re constantly looking at how we can push the boundaries of what’s possible with our technology. One area we’re particularly excited about is integrating even more sophisticated AI and machine learning algorithms into our system. By enhancing the intelligence of our sensors, we aim to not only detect fires but also predict them by analyzing environmental patterns. Imagine a system that could predict high-risk fire zones based on real-time data and past trends — that’s where we’re headed.
Another major focus is expanding the scope of what our sensors can monitor. Right now, we’re focused on wildfire detection, but there’s potential to do so much more. Future generations of Silvanet could include sensors for tracking carbon sequestration, soil health or even monitoring wildlife activity. This would transform Silvanet into a comprehensive tool for ecosystem management.
5. Success Insight: What was the tipping point for your company’s recent success? Was there a change in strategy or approach that others might learn from?
Dryad Networks’ Silvanet system has been instrumental in preventing large-scale damage through its ultra-early wildfire detection capabilities. A significant case study involves the successful deployment of Silvanet in Lebanon, where it detected an unauthorized wildfire within 30 minutes. In December 2023, the system identified and alerted authorities about an illegal fire started by a farmer burning dry grapevines near Deir Mar Moussa. This rapid detection prevented the fire from spreading to nearby forested areas, showcasing the system’s effectiveness in real-world scenarios.
6. Challenges and Lessons: Can you share a significant challenge your company faced and how you overcame it? What key lesson did that experience provide?
One of the primary challenges has been ensuring the sensor nodes operate reliably in harsh outdoor environments, which experience extreme temperatures, humidity, and potential interference from animals and humans. To address this, Dryad designed robust, solar-powered sensor nodes capable of withstanding environmental stresses, using supercapacitors for long-term, maintenance-free operation.
Achieving ultra-low power consumption for extended operation was another critical hurdle. Dryad overcame this by integrating energy-efficient components and employing their SLEHP (Super Low Energy, High Performance) patent for ultra-low power design. This allowed the system to use a two-stage detection process, activating higher-power gas sensing only when necessary.
Reducing false positives while ensuring early and accurate detection posed a significant challenge. Dryad’s solution combined air quality sensors with gas sensors in a two-stage process and incorporated machine learning models to analyze sensor data, thus enhancing precision and minimizing false alarms.
7. Leadership Impact: In just a few words, what differentiates your leadership role from others in the company? What impact does this have on company culture or product success?
I believe (also thinking of myself here) that establishing and maintaining a positive corporate culture is completely underestimated as it is a key source of motivation and commitment of employees. While the immediate benefits are not measurable, I think over time the investment in initiatives that drive motivation and commitment will pay dividends.
As an impact-for-profit company, a key motivation to work for Dryad is to contribute in the fight against climate change. While not everybody working at Dryad may see this as the primary motivation, I believe that many joined and stay at the company for this motivation. We are also aiming to keep employees motivated and engaged by providing an equity scheme where we have allocated 10-15% of the company shares for employees. Last but not least, we have Thursday free beers – after all, we are a German company :-).
To learn more about Carsten Brinkschulte career journey and how Dryad Networks is reshaping wildfire prevention, visit the website here.
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