Ask HN: Do you know of any startups working on wildlife/habitat conservation?

I don't know of any that are hiring, but there are lots of non profit conservation orgs that could probably seriously use some tech help if you're just looking for somewhere to volunteer.

While I'm not aware of any that explicitly focus on conservation, there are established ways to get involved as a business. I'm in the sensor-networking space and spend a lot time following this domain. What follows is just general advice in leu of respoding with 'I want to know too' to your post.

First, (and USA-specific) check the RFQs from various government organizations. The process can be foreboding and favors established companies - but a real need (and money) exists for those that follow this path.

Secondly, check with local universities to see what research is currently underway or planned.

Lastly, profit models really only exist in parallel with regulation. Sadly, unless corporations/landowners are chasing tax breaks or avoiding fines, you won't see people flocking to buy technology for auditing water/air/soil quality.

Edit - Also Agriculture is a profitiable conduit for developing conservation tech. (Water conservation , animal tracking, soil quality, etc are all in demand)

It depends on how you define a startup. Do small, growing non-profits count? If so, then there are a number, such as http://www.spaceforgiants.org/

There's a number of ones on the periphery, one for example is Airware http://www.airware.com/ which is working on autopilot for drones, which you may say what does that have to do with wildlife/habitat conservation? Well they are partnered with Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya which is deploying a drone to monitor/deter poachers of rhinos.

We're a Tech SMB working on Natural Ecosystems and Habitat conservation and development. Read more about us at http://www.earthindicators.com

EarthEconomics.org is and they are great. They are Zillow (house valuations estimator), but for undeveloped land. They put a value on the property if it's natural state is removed. They use academic research data to calculate the value of wetlands, wild life, erosion control, regulatory compliance, etc.

There's a non-profit in Portland, OR called Ecotrust[0]. Their goal is to make fishing and farming more sustainable for the environment. They also have a for-profit child company called Point Nine Seven[1] that mainly deals with fisheries.

[0]: http://www.ecotrust.org/

[1]: http://pointnineseven.com/

Depends, what kinda aspects? E.g., there are a few companies that make drones and satellites for governments & wildlife agencies to better spot poachers and track deforestation and do targeted, efficient, data-driven efforts to reduce them. Just bringing this up since most people have listed the direct agencies & nonprofits but nobody mentioned people who are making technology to help agencies and nonprofits!

We do something like this with Evergreen (www.evr.gr). It's a virtual currency that is partially backed by rainforest that we purchase when people exchange other currencies to ours. We are for-profit but have partnerships with a couple non-profits that manage the conservation efforts.

Some friends are involved with this. Feels pretty relevant: https://www.tigernation.org/

I can connect you if you like, email in profile.

Wow, thanks everyone. I didn't expect this great of a response.

Not directly, but can support related projects: microryza.com

Yes, your startup. I just finished reading your Indiegogo.com project page a few moments ago, just before I stepped into my time machine and popped back to 2013 so that I could write this comment.

Good luck on your project. More and more people are finding that it is more satisfying to fund projects through sites like indiegogo.com and fundrazr.com than it is to make charitable donations in the traditional way.

Check out Nerds For Nature in the Bay Area: http://nerdsfornature.org

Cuipo: Saving the Rainforest One Meter at a Time http://www.cuipo.org