Using satellite data and bird calls to determine biodiversity: that was the idea behind the launch of start-up Hula Earth two years ago. Today more than 80 small high-tech boxes are installed in the outdoors, constantly collecting data and transmitting it to the company headquarters. Project developers for moorland restoration, solar parks and nature conservation associations are already using the service.
Andreas Heddergott / TUM Hula Earth has developed a system that automatically recognizes, processes and stores bird calls and sends the results to the company headquarters via radio. The most essential function of the solar-powered, shoebox-sized green device is to listen to nature and distinguish between sounds. "Bird calls in particular have been well researched," says co-founder David Schmider, the team's inventor. "And birds are also a good indicator of biodiversity," says the computer scientist and CTO at Hula Earth. What makes the overall system special is that it reliably recognizes bird calls. "In addition, the data is processed directly in real time on the device. This saves biologists a lot of manual field work," concludes Schmider.
Dashboard with biodiversity indicators
The device registers bird calls within a hundred meters. In addition to local bioacoustic data, Hula Earth looks at the Earth from space and utilizes satellite data to determine such parameters as water content in leaves or levels of photosynthesis activity. All of the data are compiled in a dashboard that displays the biodiversity of the respective region, including figures on ecosystem vitality, leaf area index (the amount of leaf area per unit of soil surface) and water storage capacity. "Just like the climate crisis, there is also a biodiversity crisis," explains co-founder and CEO Florian Geiser, a TUM alumnus and the strategist and visionary in the team. "More than half of gross domestic product depends directly on nature's services. It is essential to be able to measure the state of nature reliably and over the long term."
Nature as a spiritual source for the business model
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Hula Earth is now just two years old. The name Hula is derived from a Hawaiian dance whose spiritual source is nature, like the business model. Various customers are already working with the company to get a clear picture of biodiversity trends in the medium and long term. Conservation authorities want to track biodiversity trends in a renaturalized moor. Solar park operators wish to estimate the size of any compensation areas that may be required when constructing a solar park. And conservation associations want to demonstrate the importance of sustainable and ecological agriculture.
Hula Earth now with 12 employees
Six months ago, Hula Earth relocated from the premises of the robotics incubator robo.innovate, which is funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, and now has 12 employees working in its own offices in Munich's city center. "The support from robo.innovate was incredibly important for us," says co-founder Geiser. "That's especially thanks to the many contacts with other start-ups and potential investors." At the end of last year, the first significant investment was made in the form of pre-seed funding that enabled the move and new hires.
Among them is Julia Roblick, a business economist and lawyer with experience in the venture capital sector, who will be responsible for business development, finance and human resources in the future. Roblick is convinced: "We are first movers. The market is still in its infancy and we have a product that works."
Andreas Heddergott / TUM 
Andreas Heddergott / TUM 
Andreas Heddergott / TUM Andreas Heddergott / TUM ss
- robo.innovate ist ein bayerischer Deep-Tech-Inkubator für Startups im Bereich Robotik und KI. Als gemeinsame Initiative des Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence der Technischen Universität München und des Bayerischen Wirtschaftsministeriums ist robo.innovate auch Teil der Aktivitäten rund um Gründerland Bayern. robo.innovate unterstützt Gründerinnen und Gründer von der Idee, hin zu einem ersten Produkt bis zur Marktreife und vernetzt und unterstützt Studierende, Forschende, Industrie und Investoren bei Start-up-Projekten auf der Grundlage ihres Fachwissens und begleiten Gründungsteams auf ihrem Weg zu einem erfolgreichen Unternehmen. Mehr informationen: roboinnovate.mirmi.tum.de
- Das Innovationsökosystem mit der TUM im Mittelpunkt gilt als einer der erfolgreichsten Deeptech-Hubs in Europa. Seine besonderen Stärken sind sein starkes, vielfältiges Netzwerk und die äußerst spezifische Förderung. In Initiativen und Co-Labs arbeiten Start-ups mit etablierten Unternehmen, Fachleuten, Investorinnen und Investoren und Verwaltung an Innovationen. TUM und UnternehmerTUM, das Zentrum für Innovation und Gründung, sowie der Robotik-Inkubator robo.innovate unterstützen Gründungsteams mit Programmen, die exakt auf die einzelnen Phasen der Gründung und die Teams zugeschnitten sind. Auf zwölf Technologiefeldern bieten die TUM Venture Labs eine unmittelbare Anbindung an die Spitzenforschung, technische Infrastruktur und Marktexpertise. Zuletzt wurden in einem Jahr mehr als 100 Unternehmen an der TUM gegründet und mehr als 1.100 Start-up-Teams von UnternehmerTUM, den Venture Labs und robo.innovate unterstützt. UnternehmerTUM, das mit einem eigenen Venture-Capital-Fonds investiert, wurde von der Financial Times zwei Mal zu Europas bestem Gründungszentrum gewählt.
- Video zum Funktionsprinzip der Technologie: www.youtube.com/watch
