In the 1940s, it was estimated that there were close to 5.7 million honeybee colonies being managed in the United States. By 2015, that number had dropped to just 2.74 million.
All over the globe, bee populations continue to decline — and it’s a problem much bigger than not being able to purchase honey. Bees are one of the ecosystem’s most important pollinators. Without them, growing enough crops to feed the worldwide population becomes a near-impossible challenge.
The good news, though, is that there are a number of companies taking up the all-important mission of saving the bees. If you would like to put your support behind companies that are striving to protect one of Nature’s most important creatures, these are the top startups to watch.
Companies Helping to Save the Bees
1. BeeHero
- Location: Del Ray, California
- Founder(s): Itai Kanot, Omer Davidi, Yuval Regev
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Series Unknown, $66.5 Million
- Investors Include: Plug and Play, Webit Investment Network, Convent Capital
BeeHero is a California-based agtech startup that aims to optimize crop pollination, using advanced technology and data science. The company has developed a system of smart sensors that are placed inside beehives to monitor various parameters, such as temperature, humidity, sound, and movement. These sensors collect real-time data on hive health and activity, which is then analyzed using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.
BeeHero’s platform provides actionable insights to both beekeepers and farmers, allowing them to make data-driven decisions to improve pollination efficiency and crop yields. For beekeepers, this means better hive management and reduced colony losses.
2. Beeflow
- Location: Los Angeles, California
- Founder(s): Matias Viel, Agustín Saez, Pedro Negri
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Convertible Note, $11.8 Million
- Investors Include: SOSV, Future Ventures, Indie Bio
Beeflow is an Argentina-born, California-based agtech startup that focuses on enhancing bee pollination services through innovative scientific approaches. The company’s core mission is to improve crop yields and quality by optimizing the performance of pollinating bees.
Beeflow’s key innovation lies in the startup’s development of specially formulated nutrient supplements for bees. These supplements are designed to strengthen bees and alter their foraging behavior in ways that benefit specific crops.
3. 3Bee
- Location: Corso di Porta Romana, Italy
- Founder(s): Niccolo Calandri, Riccardo Balzaretti
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: $5.25 Million
- Investors Include: AgFunder, Anya Capital, GROW Accelerator
Founded in 2017 with the primary goal of helping bolster bee populations, 3Bee is an Italian startup that focuses on producing internet-of-things (IoT) devices for honey farmers. These devices are designed to help honey farmers better manage their bee populations so that bee populations all over the world are able to thrive. In addition to making these valuable devices available to beekeepers, 3Bee also promotes a variety of fundraising initiatives meant to support research into how we can prevent bee population decline.
4. Beewise
- Location: Bet Haemek, Israel
- Founder(s): Boaz Petersil, Eliyah Radzyner, Hallel Schreier, Saar Safra, Yossi Sorin
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Series C, $118.7 Million
- Investors Include: Corner Ventures, lool Ventures, Insight Partners
Tending to a beehive manually is a difficult and time-consuming process. For this reason, many beekeepers only attend to their hives once every few weeks. Unfortunately, a lack of routine care is one of the primary reasons why bee colonies suffer losses. To solve this problem, Beewise has invented an autonomous beehive called Beehome that is able to automatically attend to a colony’s needs via AI and robotic components.
5. Olombria
- Location: London, England
- Founder(s): Gregory Swan, Louis Patric Alderson-Bythell, Tashia Tucker
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Pre-Seed, $338,000
- Investors Include: Astanor Ventures, Thrive by SVG Ventures, Mudcake
While bees might be nature’s most important pollinators, flies can serve as efficient pollinators as well. Olombria is a company that is working to help farmers who do have enough bees in their area for adequate pollination to capitalize on flies as pollinators instead by offering chemical volatiles that can be sprayed on crops to encourage pollination from flies.
6. apic.ai
- Location: Karlsruhe, Germany
- Founder(s): Katharina Schmidt, Frederic Tausch, Matthias Diehl
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Undisclosed
- Investors Include: Google for Startups
Founded in 2018, apic.ai is a startup that leverages artificial intelligence and computer vision technology to analyze a farmer’s crops in real-time and provide farmers with a detailed analysis of how their practices are affecting the populations of bees and other pollinators in their area. This data enables farmers to evaluate practices such as the pesticides that they choose to spray on their crops and determine the impact that these practices have on the health of bee colonies in the area, leading to decisions that are based on hard data rather than best guesses.
7. Pollenity
- Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
- Founder(s): Sergey Petrov
- Founded In: 2015
- Funding: Seed, $803,000
- Investors Include: EIC Fund, Chivas Venture, European Commission
Pollenity is a Bulgaria-based startup that has expanded its operations internationally, including to the United States. The company focuses on creating smart beehives and technology solutions for urban beekeeping. Pollenity’s flagship product, Beebot, is an Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled beehive that allows beekeepers to monitor their hives remotely through a mobile app. Pollenity aims to make beekeeping more accessible to urban dwellers and to provide data-driven insights for improved hive management.
8. HiveTracks
- Location: Creston, North Carolina
- Founder(s): James Wilkes
- Founded In: 2010
- Funding: Debt Financing, $515,600
- Investors Include: Undisclosed
HiveTracks’ software solution allows beekeepers to track and manage their hives digitally, offering features like hive inspection records, queen and colony tracking, and treatment schedules. HiveTracks also incorporates data analytics to help beekeepers make informed decisions about their apiaries. The company’s goal is to modernize beekeeping practices and improve overall hive health and productivity.
9. Beeing
- Location: Faenza, Italy
- Founder(s): Gabriele Garavini, Roberto Pasi
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: $21,400
- Investors Include: Impact Hub Milano
Beeing is an innovative company that has developed the B-BOX, a cutting-edge solution for urban beekeeping. The startup’s flagship product combines traditional beekeeping principles with modern technology to create a harmonious relationship between humans and bees in urban environments. The B-BOX features transparent walls, allowing observers to watch bees at work without disturbing them, and includes a 2.2-meter entrance for safe, close-up viewing. A key feature is the ability to harvest honey easily with a simple lever mechanism designed to be minimally invasive to the bees.
10. Beeyard
- Location: Aveiro, Portugal
- Founder(s): Miguel Bento, Joel Oliveira
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Seed, $113,000
- Investors Include: Portugal Ventures
Beeyard is a digital platform designed to streamline beekeeping operations. The company’s core offering is an app-based system that allows beekeepers to efficiently manage their hives, record operational data, and schedule beekeeping events online. The platform provides a comprehensive suite of tools for both management and remote monitoring of beehives. Beeyard’s primary goal is to improve productivity in two key areas of beekeeping: honey production and pollination services.
11. Nectar Technologies
- Location: Montréal, Canada
- Founder(s): Evan Henry, Marc-André Roberge, Xavier de Briey, Renaud Vincent
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Seed, CA$1.1 Million
- Investors Include: Koan Capital, SVG Ventures, Real Ventures
Nectar is dedicated to improving honeybee health through innovative technology. The company’s mission focuses on empowering beekeepers with the tools and insights they need to provide optimal care for their hives. Nectar’s approach revolves around creating “bee-friendly” technology that facilitates a form of communication between bees and their keepers. By enabling beekeepers to better understand and respond to their bees’ needs, Nectar aims to ensure that appropriate care can be applied at the right time — ultimately promoting healthier and more resilient bee colonies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s causing bee populations to decline?
Research has pinpointed a number of factors contributing to bee population decline, including the increased prevalence of pesticides, habitat loss, climate change, and reduced species diversity.
What would happen if all the bees died?
It has been said that if all the bees in the world suddenly died, mankind would go extinct in about four years. While this might not be exactly accurate given the potential for technology to save the day (miniature drones, for instance, could possibly be employed to take up the mantle of Nature’s most important pollinator), suffice it to say that protecting the bees is an essential objective for mankind’s survival.
How do we save the bees?
Supporting companies such as those that we’ve listed is one way to do your part in preventing bee population decline. Living sustainably and reducing your carbon footprint is another way that individuals can make a meaningful difference when it comes to saving the bees.