Gregory Meyers launched TreeStock with a big ambition: to map every tree on the planet. Since then, the Sheffield-based company has been on a journey of turning that ambition into a practical, commercially viable product. Combining AI, remote sensing, drone technology and environmental data, TreeStock is developing a new way to understand forests and individual trees in unprecedented detail. We caught up with Gregory, co-founder and CEO, to find out more about TreeStock, using AI for good, and the six-figure fundraising total that’s about to accelerate the company’s growth.

From early pilots to commercial validation

TreeStock began its journey in 2025, evolving from an idea in 2023 whilst operating as a one-person AI consultancy with broad reach, into a niche product-led business with environmental impact. The inspiration was a consultancy project with Scottish Forestry. “I realised this was where I wanted to make an impact,” Gregory explains.

Using this project and a small number of other early pilot users, he was able to develop his AI-led product towards a commercially viable solution, by listening to and learning from his customers.

“We’ve moved from early pilots into stronger commercial validation. When we launched TreeStock we were still working out how to move from idea to product,” he explains. “We had one or two early pilot users who were helping us develop the product, rather than acting as traditional customers.”

In a close-knit industry where reputation and relationships matter, having real customers using and paying for the product has helped TreeStock establish credibility.

“Having some of them pay for us and use us, all of a sudden changes things. It’s no longer just some unknown people promising the world. It’s now, ‘Oh, wait a second, you’re being used by them.’ Okay, let me take notice.”

Whilst the core proposition has remained the same, the technology underneath it has changed significantly in what Gregory describes as “fleshing out new features”. TreeStock has developed its platform to handle increasingly diverse forests while making the process more efficient and scalable.

For Gregory, though, the company is still very much at the beginning.

“I still feel we’re just starting. We haven’t reached one yet. We’re still going from zero to one. But we now know what one looks like. That’s where we currently are.”

Understanding what customers actually need

One of the challenges TreeStock has encountered is that it is developing technology for a market that hasn’t previously had access to this kind of information.

TreeStock’s ambition to map every tree hasn’t changed, but Gregory’s understanding of what it actually means for a tree to be “mapped” has become much more nuanced. A photograph isn’t enough, and neither is a satellite image showing a green pixel where a tree is likely to be.

The information needs to be accurate and reliable enough to give customers confidence in what is actually there.

“Knowing what is good enough for the client has been a really hard thing to pin down,” Gregory remarks, “because they don’t know what is good enough for them. They haven’t had any of this before.”

That process of discovery has helped TreeStock think beyond the technology itself. The challenge is not simply to produce vast quantities of sophisticated environmental data, but to turn it into something that people managing forests can understand and act upon.

“We’re seeing – and learning – more and more about how we fit in and how we can convey this information to users in a non-technical, valuable way.”

Customer feedback will become increasingly important as TreeStock moves into its next phase. The company’s goal over the next one to two years is to move from a handful of paying users to a much larger customer base, including enterprise customers.

“We don’t shy away from critical feedback, because that’s how we build something that is impactful. We don’t want to create something that’s just nice. We want something that is truly valuable and truly makes a difference.”

A new phase of growth

TreeStock is now approaching the close of its pre-seed funding round, with approximately £334,000 secured in private investment alongside over £350,000 in grant funding.

The new funding and Innovate UK grants mean the company can now move more quickly towards its next goal:

“Our one-to-two-year milestone goals are really to scale — to turn TreeStock from having a handful of validated market-fit customers to a lot of customers and a lot of enterprise customers.”

Technology with a purpose

Driven by that initial project with Scottish Forestry, there is a bigger motivation behind TreeStock’s work.

The company exists because several technologies – AI, drone technology and satellites – have reached a point of maturity where they can be combined to tackle a problem that would have been extremely difficult to address just a few years ago.

“What has allowed us to be in this position in the first place is that these technologies have simultaneously matured enough to develop the kind of product that we’re developing. If this was five years ago, it just would not be possible.

“It’s almost an alignment across AI, drone technology, Earth observation technology and a few other ecosystems and toolsets. We’re able to leverage all of these in a very multidisciplinary way and pull it together.”

But Gregory is particularly enthusiastic about what this technology can be used for –  tackling a significant environmental challenge and making a real-world difference.

“From a personal point of view, it does feel great being able to use these technologies in a positive way. For me, the fact that we’re trying to leverage all this state-of-the-art technology to actually be making an impact is just… yeah, it’s nice.”

The Sheffield ecosystem effect

For Gregory, one of the biggest factors in getting TreeStock to this point has been its connection to Sheffield’s technology and innovation ecosystem.

TreeStock is based at Sheffield Technology Parks, and Gregory has built connections with a number of partner organisations including Business Sheffield and Sheffield Angels.

He says it is difficult to imagine the company’s journey without the support and connections available through the local ecosystem.

“I almost struggle to answer this, because it’s hard to see how things would have been without all the ecosystem support that I have. I don’t want to say taken for granted, but come to expect to a degree.”

He admits assuming this kind of support was commonplace across the UK, although he now realises that it might not be the case.

“I’d always assumed that other cities and other regions would have such a well-supported tech ecosystem as Sheffield. Then I spoke to a friend starting up in a different part of the country and they said, ‘There’s none of that here.’ And I realised, actually, we’re pretty lucky,” Gregory reflects, adding:

“I would always like to think that I would have made this work regardless of anything – that’s almost a self-hypnotic thing you have to tell yourself to keep going. But it certainly would have taken a lot longer, at the very least.”

And the value of a robust innovation ecosystem isn’t necessarily about solving a particular technical problem. For an early-stage business, relationships, networks and access to people who have already navigated similar business challenges can be just as important.

“There’s so much stuff that is not technology-blocked. It’s relationships, it’s social, it’s networks, it’s business. Being at Sheffield Tech Parks and taking advantage of everything that’s going on in Sheffield and South Yorkshire has just been incredible.”

Sheffield Angels has been particularly important during TreeStock’s recent fundraising round. The network provided the company’s first investment and, alongside other founders and advisers, has helped Gregory navigate what he describes as a steep learning curve. He comments, “Chris Dalrymple and Sheffield Angels have been incredible.”

Joining Sheffield Digital has been another way for TreeStock to become more deeply embedded in the city’s technology community. Gregory says his motivation wasn’t simply to find another way of promoting the business, but to be more involved in the ecosystem and contribute to it.

“I wanted to join just to be more involved, to be more involved in the ecosystem, be aware of everything going on and be a part of it.”

TreeStock isn’t about technology for technology’s sake. The ambition is to use some of the most advanced tools available to create a better understanding of one of earth’s most important resources – and to turn that understanding into positive, practical action.

If this is ‘zero-to-one’, we really can’t wait for one and beyond. Find out more about the company on the website: www.treestock.com.