Baotree

In the last 50 years we’ve lost 68% of all wildlife globally and by 2050 Africa’s population is going to double, creating even more economic, social and climate pressures than ever before. 

Many organisations are working to protect wildlife and affected communities, but using spreadsheets, and pen to paper makes them inefficient. 

Our software provides tools such as: project management; data analysis; communications; and surveying to achieve total transparency and accountability. 

This allows local communities to decide their priority projects, and the supporting organisations to track how funds are used. 

A partnership that will measure impact and unlock additional revenue or funding. 

And in measuring environmental, social and economic-based activities, will help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, at scale. 

We've lost 68% of all wildlife in the last 50 years - WWF Living Planet Report. 

20 of the fastest warming countries are in Africa, which means the underserved communities in Africa will be the bear the greatest suffering - UNEP Report. 

5% of the poorest people on the planet, live next to 80% of the richest biodiverse ecosystem - IUCN report. 

By 2050, Africa's population is going to double - causing more economic, social and ecological pressures than ever before - The Economist. 

Millions of humans situated around our natural ecosystems are going to be affected, and they require access to sustainable solutions, economic outputs and financial inclusion - in order to be best equipped for the increasing challenges. 

Baotree is a relationship management system, designed to serve organisations, to better serve the communities that they work with. Africa does not need Aid or "saving", it requires the humans to be dignified as part of their own solution. Donors need more transparency into where their funds are distributed, which is a key stakeholder within our software ecosystem. 

Baotree provides software tools that encompasses project management, monitoring and evaluation, enabling communications between organisations and the communities they work with; and surveying capabilities to listen to what the communities needs are - rather than assuming what is best for the community. 

Our tech stack is developed with the same stack as Facebook, Uber, Instagram, etc. We have three users in our software:

1. Our customers (any organisations that work with communities - private, NGO and conservation): Setup projects, assign tasks for communities to report via USSD; quantitative data capture and impact reporting. 

2. Communities (operating in remote locations / tech illiterate locations): USSD comms allows communities to report economic, social or environmental tasks too unlock development goals with their partner organisation. A smartphone is not required for their engagement, and we cover all costs from a community perspective. 

3. Verifiers: Selected by the partner organisation, it can be an employee or nominated community champion that is smartphone enabled. All tasks reported by a community member during a project, will require verification - verifiers go to the community reported location and capture photographic and documented evidence for proof of work. Progressive Web App. 

The real opportunity is supporting the organisations that work with communities, better at what they do and more scalable. The relationships already exist between them and the community, additionally the organisations understand their own local context better than any 3rd party ever can. 

Organisations: Will have a reduction of costs in field operations. They will be able to measure their impact with our data captures, and verify their proof of impact data. Including communities automates and scales data collection and are included as part of the solution. Organisations will be able to provide total transparency to their donors, with real-time data feeds coming in from the ground. 

Communities: Our software serves all communities globally, starting in Africa. The diversity of challenges, why communities are underserved and our personal assumptions are irrelevant when driving scale in regenerative community development. The complexity of these humans lives, and specifically in Africa are unique from one county to the next - and from one country to the next. Climate change, wildlife conflicts, desertification, droughts, food security, inequality, access to education... 

This is why we developed Baotree - to allow the organisations who know, understand and already work with the respective communities - to be better equipped - as spreadsheets, emails and pen to paper are completely inefficient. 

We are very happy to be verified with the below, as Baotree does the below and there is no sugar coating. 

Provide scalable and verifiable monitoring and data collection to track ecosystem conditions, such as biodiversity, social actions, and economic productivity.

We are a project management, collaborative and communications tools for organisations to work better with their partner communities. 

Create scalable economic opportunities for local communities, including regenerative agriculture, waste management, bee-hive farming, wildlife coexistence, that are aligned with thriving and biodiverse ecosystems

Equip Communities to reserve and restore carbon-rich ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots, whether terrestrial, coastal, or marine.

At the end of 2020, the Baotree conducted our technology test in central Kenya with the below partners

Ol Pejeta Conservancy: https://docsend.com/view/di2y6...

Loisaba Conservancy: https://docsend.com/view/99f6y...

Borana Conservancy: https://docsend.com/view/gbqrr...

Communities Health Africa Trust: https://docsend.com/view/djd7n...

We will have our first revenue come in this June 2021. Rolling out in the Laikipia region of Kenya. With a secondary waste management project going live in July 2021, in the Maasai Mara. Our regenerative agriculture play with The Nature Conservancy will be going live at the end of this year, a 28 month long project. Our test phase is over, and we are now in the growth stage of our business - where we aim to find product market fit in Kenya and scaling through Africa, then globally in due course. 

Baotree is a software tool that allows organisations to register community members to be a part of their own solution. Project types may range across all the UN SDG types, including healthcare, climate change, education, waste management, regenerative agriculture, etc. We equip the stakeholders on the ground, with the tools to better enhance their relationship with each other, and with nature. 

BaoVoices, is our two-way communication tool that allows organisations to deploy surveys to measure attitudes, behaviours or understand what development goals may be asked for by the community. Mitigating the traditional leaders, elders, chiefs making the decisions on behalf of the women, youth, etc. All voices should be heard in this process. 

BaoConnect will disrupt the the donor ecosystem - our foundation registered in the Netherlands, that will connect into Baotree and BaoVoices - allowing donors, individuals or investors to receive total transparency into how their funds are used. 

We are a holistic solution, bringing all relevant stakeholders in the same ecosystem - this is our way of politely breaking "how things have always been done". Our B2B play, allows us to create development project templates, serving underserved and under resourced organisations to gain knowledge and the HOW to solve for their problems. 

Currently: 2,000 est.

One Year: 3 million

Five Years: 50 million

All of our projects in the Baotree system are mapped back to the UN SDG's. 

Our software measures all user types, tasks verified, data captured, members, project types, and the quantitative data. 

We will be exploring an integration with IRIS+ for all of our economic, social and environmental tasks that will be reported and verified via our software. 

Full-time: 3

Interns: 2

Contractors: 2

Software Contractors: 5 

Dimitri Syrris: Founder / CEO. Born and raised in South Africa, a wildlife ranger at heart. Spent several years working in London's marketing technology sector. Until a life pivot in 2019, spent the year travelling through Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique - living on the borders of protected areas and with the underserved communities we now serve.

Skye Aspden: Co-Founder / COO. Born and raised in South Africa.

working at the intersection of tech, brand and marketing for 15 years. His experience has been working with start-ups, traditional ad agencies and growth phase companies to enhance their operations in digital distribution, management and analysis. 

Mike Simpson: Co-Founder / Commercial. Born and raised in South Africa. 

14 years of experience working in investment banking and private equity and debt investing. His investing career began at D.E. Shaw, a $30bn+ hedge fund. Consulted on financial operations, investing, strategy and fundraising for firms such as Blackstone, KKR, KPMG and global family offices. 

Carlos Joseph: Kenyan born, Humanitarian and Design Thinker, with over 10 years of experience in the HCD field, community development, in the Humanitarian sector. He has consulted with firms such as IDEO, Ideo. Org and Dalberg Designs on multiple projects in East Africa working with communities on multiple project types.

Antonia Leckie: Conservation Biologist - She holds a Bachelor and Master's from the University of Nottingham, specialising in biology and then biosciences. Aside from assisting Baotree, Antonia has worked for Lion Landscapes, as well as for the Mount Kenya Trust. 

Our purpose is that of inclusion, which is why Dimitri Syrris moved his life to Kenya in February 2021 to start building and developing the team from within Africa. 

Our advisory board is that of a diverse range of sectors, industries - https://baotree.io/purpose/

Our goal is to increase diversity in our hiring process, include local leaders and build them to their fullest potential.

We respect that the challenge we aim to solve is not a one person, or one organisation solve. Our global challenges require collaboration, co-creation and connection between partners - that are specialists in specific areas. We are a small team, and recognise our weaknesses, and where we need support. To scale an effective SaaS B2B play, in the most remote parts of our world, with limited connection, and low tech literacy - the opportunity of collaborating with Solve, their team and the resource that come with it - are why we are submitting this application. Our planet, our people and our homes are under threat and we will stop at nothing - as we wish our children to share the same home that we are lucky enough to still exist on. It is no longer about the "I", it is and always has been about the "WE" and the "US". Let's do this together, not for ourselves, but for the communities and humans that we can serve. Thank you. 

Business Model: this can always use refinement, our pricing is forever evolving and communicating the value proposition with 100% clarity is critical. 

Financial: Refining our pitch deck, story and the way in which we present ourselves. 

PR: Copywriting and communicating in a way that is understood by our diverse audience based - personalising comms. 

M&E: Making sense of the scalable data collection that we are embarking on, and what additional features / functions we can include within our software roadmap. 

Service Distribution: awareness, reach and penetration into new markets / sectors will be critical to our success. 

Technology: Without a dedicated CTO, we would love to explore the deeper world of tech and ensure we are growing with the right tools, assets and tech capabilities in mind. 

IUCN, UNEP, UNDP, AWF, WWF, Unicef, World Vision, Save The Children, US AID, UK AID and the big organisations that have existed for a long time - but are the least adaptive to the rapid change of our planet, and the technology that can support the incredible work that they do. 

This will accelerate our humanitarian sector aspirations and equip us with the resources to scale our solution, to serve refugees and customers in the sector. East Africa is home to large scale operations that are inefficiently run, utilising pen to paper and spreadsheets. We wish to change this, increase our team for the sector and advance our product to listen, respond and act towards dignifying community members in the sector. 

Resilient Ecosystems and enabling communities to be included in their own development, and environmental restoration is core to Baotree. Our software equips communities to take full ownership in their own safe, smart and sustainable development. By reporting their ESG tasks, their partner organisations can learn what their activities and needs are - providing the right sustainable development goals for their increased security, whilst simultaneously supporting their local lands, environment and well-being. 

Baotree's project management tools, may be designed, managed and run by the organisations that support carbon absorption, carbon sequestrationand decarbonisation. Through the project templates created by the partners that facilitate these projects,  we can collaboratively share the solutions at scale to other stakeholders who might not have the same capacity, resource or funding requirements. Copy pasting what works VS what doesn't work is critical to scaling knowledge sharing and execution for our carbon critical ecosystems. We can operate in mangrove restoration sites, in land forests, jungles and savannahs - there is no limit to where our services can be operated from and that is how we will use the prize. To scale into critical carbon capture locations that require immediate and direct attention. Enhancing the data layers and data capture methods in-field, to more accurately understand the true impact / carbon capture.

Baotree currently stands as a project monitoring and evaluation tools, communications system, data management and surveying tool for supporting the underserved communities at scale. Our resilient ecosystem tools, that dignify communities as part of the solution is why we feel we are applicable to this prize. Via our B2B model, we would utilise the prize money to develop our native application version 2.0 - with blockchain protocols in place. This will enable community members to complete positive environmental, economic or social activities and therefore the ability to "sell" their impact data / tokens to organisations who need the actionable data. Making communities independent of any development requirements from organisations.