Interest in Spoor’s AI tool for tracking birds is rapidly increasing

Spoor’s Vision: Protecting Birds with AI-Powered Monitoring

Founded in 2021, Spoor set out to leverage computer vision technology to minimize the negative effects of wind turbines on bird populations. The company has since demonstrated the effectiveness of its solution and is now attracting attention from wind energy operators and other sectors.

Based in Oslo, Norway, Spoor has developed software that utilizes advanced computer vision to monitor and identify birds and their migration routes. This system can detect avian activity within a 2.5-kilometer (approximately 1.5 miles) radius and is compatible with any standard high-resolution camera.

With this data, wind farm managers can make more informed decisions about turbine placement and operation. For instance, turbines can be slowed or temporarily halted during peak migration periods to reduce bird collisions.

Ask Helseth, Spoor’s co-founder and CEO, became interested in this field after discovering that wind farms often lacked reliable methods for monitoring bird activity, despite strict regulations in many countries regarding wind farm locations and their impact on wildlife.

“Regulatory expectations are increasing, but the industry lacks effective tools,” Helseth explained. “Currently, many rely on field observations with binoculars and trained dogs to estimate bird collisions with turbines.”

Helseth shared with TechCrunch that Spoor has since validated the necessity of its technology and has continued to enhance its capabilities.

Image courtesy of Spoor

When Spoor secured seed funding in 2024, its system could monitor birds within a 1-kilometer range. That range has now doubled, and thanks to an expanding dataset for its AI model, the software’s bird identification accuracy has reached about 96%.

“For some clients, identifying the specific bird species adds another level of complexity,” Helseth noted. “Distinguishing whether an object is a bird or not is just the start. We employ an in-house ornithologist to help train our AI on new species, especially as we expand into regions with rare birds.”

Today, Spoor operates across three continents and collaborates with over 20 major energy companies worldwide. The company’s technology has also attracted interest from other fields, including airports and aquaculture. Notably, Spoor has partnered with mining giant Rio Tinto to monitor bat populations.

There has also been curiosity about using Spoor’s system to track other similarly sized objects, but Helseth says the company is not planning to shift focus just yet.

“To us, drones are essentially plastic birds,” Helseth joked. “They behave differently and have distinct shapes and sizes. While we currently filter out that data, there is growing interest in this area.”

Recently, Spoor raised €8 million (approximately $9.3 million) in a Series A funding round led by SET Ventures, with participation from Ørstead Ventures, Superorganism, and other strategic investors.

Helseth anticipates that demand for such technology will continue to rise as regulations around wind farms become more stringent. For example, in April, French authorities shut down a wind farm and imposed significant fines due to its detrimental impact on local bird populations.

“Our goal is to foster harmony between industry and nature,” Helseth stated. “We’re just at the beginning of this journey. As a growing startup, we aim to solidify our presence in the wind sector and become a global leader in addressing these challenges. At the same time, we hope to demonstrate that our technology can benefit industries beyond wind energy.”