The Story of Nina Space
Originally posted by Katia Stambolieva on Medium on August 13, 2020.
WaiACCELERATE participant/founder: Ekaterina (Katia) Stambolieva
Over the past decade, as carbon emissions rise and climate change accelerates, the world has been ravaged by never-before-seen wildfires. Each year, 1/45th of the total land area on earth goes up in flames. Our planet is losing its ability to sequester carbon, and the total financial losses from wildfires double annually — currently amassing to a whopping $400 billion globally.
Mitigating megafires require targeted market-based solutions. However, as fires of this magnitude are a relatively recent phenomenon, this market is not well defined. The private sector (ie forestry industry) has not evolved to the point of providing wildfire risk reduction services, leaving the responsibility in the hands of local and federal governments. Although monitoring wildfire risk and implementing defensible spaces is required by law in many geographies, many governments lack the tools and technology to do this effectively.
Nina Space, led by founder Ekaterina Stambolieva, fills this gap. Alumni of the European Space Agency Incubator in Portugal, Nina Space uses AI-powered solutions to help local governments implement their wildfire mitigation measures. As a highly experienced group of curious minds and problem solvers, the team at Nina Space seeks to understand the root of our most pressing environmental issues and develop solutions to tackle them.
Their cornerstone platform uses satellite images to automatically monitor the implementation of defensible spaces, detect changes in vegetation, and identify strategy zones, which, when treated, protect many more hectares against wildfire. Defensible spaces (vegetation-free bubbles around buildings and infrastructure), are regulated by law and need to be closely monitored to ensure that they are properly implemented. Even Portugal, despite having a relatively small landmass, has an immense number of properties that require defensible spaces.
Katia and her team have deep experience in data science, artificial intelligence, and social entrepreneurship. Throughout Katia’s career, she has always targeted projects where she uses AI and data science to amplify the impact of social, civic, and environmental projects. She frequently offers her data science services pro-bono to help those doing good in the community, and in 2015, she founded her first social enterprise, Sugarwise — a health tech company aimed at preventing chronic disease.
While Nina Space’s immediate value proposition is aimed at government wildfire mitigation solutions, they don’t plan to stop there. As a team, they have endless energy and curiosity and want to inspire people to look at the stars and dream big. Their aim is to become the Virgin Group for sustainability, tackling all our most pressing environmental problems with holistic solutions on a global scale.
Learn more about Nina Space, and connect with Katia Stambolieva via LinkedIn.
If you are an investor interested in Katia’s Nina Space, please contact Eve Logunova at eve@womeninai.co.