Flox Intelligence Develops AI-Powered Wildlife Deterrent for Infrastructure Protection

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Flox Intelligence's AI edge devices identify animals near critical infrastructure and emit species-specific sounds to safely drive them away, aiming to reduce costly wildlife collisions with trains, roads, and airports.

Flox Intelligence, a startup spun out of KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, is pioneering AI technology to mitigate conflicts between wildlife and critical infrastructure such as trains, airports, and roads. Drawing from founder Sara Nozkova’s experience in transportation and autonomous vehicles, Flox designs edge devices that monitor and respond to nearby animals with adaptive, species-specific deterrents.

Traditional methods to prevent animal collisions—including sirens, fencing, and culling—have proven insufficient or inhumane. Recognizing that animals can become habituated to static deterrents, Flox’s system actively learns and varies its signals to maintain effectiveness. The devices use motion sensors and on-device AI models to identify animal species in real-time, then emit targeted sound emissions engineered to safely encourage animals to leave the area.

Currently, approximately 150 devices are deployed across North America, Europe, and Australia. They operate in diverse environments such as airport perimeters, national parks, rail corridors, and agricultural lands, often positioned near fencing ends and wildlife crossings. The company also provides a software platform that offers users monitoring capabilities, real-time updates, and reporting tools for regulatory compliance and biodiversity analysis. This platform is intended to be portable for future integration into moving machinery like trains, vehicles, and drones.

Flox sells hardware units upfront, supplementing revenues with annual subscriptions for ongoing software and AI services. Partnerships with companies like train manufacturer Alstom enable broader deployment of their AI wildlife deterrent solutions on vehicles. Flox projects revenues reaching $1.5 million by the end of 2026.

Competition exists from firms such as Robin Radar and iCHASE, which use species-specific distress calls and laser-based deterrents, respectively. However, Flox’s competitive advantage lies in the breadth of species covered and the extensive field data collected, offering precise insights into wildlife behaviors across species including moose and bears.

Nozkova highlights that "every machine that operates outside—trains, trucks, drones, tractors, robots—will need to understand nature, and nature intelligence is the next layer of the perception stack." The company has raised approximately $5 million in early-stage funding and is now launching a $10 million Series A round aimed at scaling deployments into the thousands and expanding beyond current wildlife use cases.

Flox Intelligence illustrates a promising fusion of AI and ecological stewardship to reduce costly animal-infrastructure collisions, improving safety and operational efficiency while respecting wildlife.