内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2025/aarden-ai-emerges-from-stealth-with-4m-to-help-landowners-navigate-data-center-clean-energy-deals/

内容总结：

美国西雅图人工智能初创企业Aarden AI近日获得400万美元融资，正式结束隐身运营模式。该公司推出的人工智能平台致力于帮助土地所有者研判开发方案、规避合作风险，在当前科技企业争相建设数据中心、清洁能源项目及住宅开发的背景下，为传统土地资源管理注入科技动能。

面对开发商日益迫切的用地需求，土地所有者却长期缺乏专业评估工具。Aarden首席执行官丹南·马加森指出："即便存在合作机会，土地所有者对开发商的信任度仍在持续走低。"该平台通过构建包含高程、土壤类型、输变电设施、生态特征等维度的精准地图，为土地多功能利用提供收益预测与法务支持，其人工智能内核更支持用户深度交互查询。

目前平台主要服务大型林地管理企业。这些企业虽精通林业领域，却难以精准评估土地转型潜力。正如气候基金Stepchange普通合伙人本·埃德尔森所言："土地行业沿用数十年的陈旧模型亟需革新。"

值得注意的是，在森林用地转型数据中心等争议性议题上，马加森强调团队坚持"负责任开发"理念，通过提供经济与环境双重评估维度，推动可持续发展决策。该企业采用订阅收费模式，未来将根据模型复杂度实施分级收费。

本轮融资由Planeteer领投，五名核心团队成员均具备气候科技与地产数据交叉背景。在科技巨头竞相布局新基建的浪潮中，这家初创企业正试图在商业效益与生态保护间寻找平衡支点。

中文翻译：

西雅图初创企业Aarden AI近日结束隐匿模式，获得投资者400万美元融资。该公司的AI平台旨在帮助土地所有者深入研究并顺利推进与开发商的交易——这些开发商正迫切寻求土地建设数据中心、清洁能源设施、住宅及其他项目。

Aarden首席执行官达南·马尔加森表示："虽然市场上早有服务于开发商的工具，但土地所有者在评估和优化交易时大多只能靠自己，既怕遭受不公平条款，又担心与不可靠的机构合作。""因此即使存在合作机会，土地所有者对与开发商合作也越来越持怀疑态度。"

为满足人工智能领域扩张带来的需求，大型科技公司正争相建造数据中心，这导致对合适地块的需求变得尤为迫切。与此同时，为给这些数据中心供电并推动更广泛的化石燃料替代计划，清洁能源领域的开发商也在积极寻找土地所有者。

该公司现有客户为拥有和管理大片林地的企业及实体。马尔加森称，这些客户虽精通本行业务，却不清楚如何准确计算土地替代用途的潜在价值。

Aarden的技术可生成包含高程、土壤类型、能源传输基础设施、环境与野生动物栖息地特征、日照强度等信息的详细地图。该平台既能估算不同土地用途的经济回报，加速尽职调查流程，还能协助处理交易涉及的法律事务。其AI基础架构允许用户在探索不同方案时随时提问，对信息进行深度挖掘。

专注于气候领域的基金Stepchange普通合伙人本·艾德尔森指出："土地行业数十年来固守着陈旧假设和Excel模型，几乎从不考虑替代用途。尽管如此，对能够获取土地资源的群体而言，这依然是表现卓越的资产类别，其收益持续超越公开市场。"Stepchange也参与了本轮投资，本轮融资由Planeteer领投，跟投方包括Founders' Co-op、KDX、Superorganism及Madrona风投合伙人伦·乔丹。

Aarden向使用该平台的土地所有者收取订阅费。未来拟增设按使用量收费模式，对运行更复杂场景模型的客户提高费用。该公司旨在促成交易双方匹配，通过协助与开发商谈判达成交易来获取收益。

虽有多家企业正开发地产评估研究工具（包括Acres.com和Land id），但其核心似乎并未聚焦土地所有者的需求。

这家初创企业于今年初成立，目前拥有五名成员：

• 联合创始人马尔加森曾任环保企业Carbon Direct首席产品官，并供职于西雅图营销初创公司Tune
• 联合创始人兼应用科学主管本·哈德森曾是房地产巨头Zillow及Homebound的应用科学家
• 创始工程师贾斯珀·克鲁姆先后任职于Carbon Direct、亚马逊等企业
• 战略运营主管伊莎贝拉·托达罗曾任Climate Neutral总监
• 工程师史蒂文·耶亦曾供职Carbon Direct，并与西雅图公司Convoy、Porch、Footprint-Finder等合作

该公司及其多数投资方与环境气候议题渊源颇深，但将林地改建为数据中心甚至太阳能电站显然与环保理念存在冲突。对此团队如何调和？马尔加森坦言该问题在内部备受关注，并强调其目标是支持负责任的开发——这一点也获得了林地所有者的认同。"如果数据中心和住宅建设势在必行，我们如何通过提供多层次信息，不仅呈现经济产出，更揭示环境影响？这有望推动更科学的决策制定。"

英文来源：

Seattle startup Aarden AI is coming out of stealth with $4 million from investors and an AI platform that helps landowners research and navigate deals with developers eager to build data centers, clean energy installations, housing and other uses.
While there have long been tools to support developers, landowners have been largely on their own to evaluate and optimize deals so they’re not taken advantage of or end up partnering with untrustworthy organizations, said Aarden CEO Danan Margason.
“And so landowners have become increasingly skeptical of working with developers, even when opportunities exist,” he said.
Big tech companies are scrambling to build data centers to meet expanding AI needs, creating urgent demand for suitable sites. At the same time, the push for clean energy — both to power those data centers and support broader efforts to move away from fossil fuels — has developers actively seeking landowners.
The company’s current customers are businesses and entities that own and manage large swaths of timberland. They know their sector well, Margason said, but they don’t know how to accurately calculate the potential for these alternate land uses.
Aarden’s technology creates detailed maps with information that includes elevation, soil type, energy transmission infrastructure, environmental and wildlife habitat features, solar intensity and other factors. It estimates financial returns for various land uses and expedites the due diligence process. And it helps manage the legal aspects of a transaction.
The platform’s AI foundation allows users to ask questions and dig more deeply into the information as they explore different options.
“As an industry, land has been stuck with multi-decade assumptions and Excel models that rarely consider alternative uses. Despite that, it’s been an amazing asset class for those that can access it, consistently beating the public markets,” said Ben Eidelson, general partner of Stepchange, a climate-focused fund.
Stepchange also invested in Aarden’s initial round, which was led by Planeteer and included Founders’ Co-op, KDX, Superorganism and Len Jordan, a venture partner at Madrona.
Aarden charges subscription fees for landowners using the platform. Future revenue options include usage-based fees that are higher for customers running more complex scenarios and models. The company aims to facilitate matches for the parties — generating revenue for helping negotiate successful transactions with developers.
Other companies are creating tools for assessing and researching properties, including Acres.com and Land id, but don’t appear to be centered on landowners’ needs.
The startup launched earlier this year and has a five person team:

• Co-founder Margason was chief product officer at Carbon Direct, a company supporting corporate partners in reaching their climate goals, and worked for Seattle marketing startup Tune.
• Co-founder head of applied science Ben Hudson was an applied scientist for the online real estate heavyweight Zillow and Homebound.
• Founding engineer Jasper Croome previously worked for Carbon Direct, Amazon and others.
• Strategy and operations lead Isabella Todaro is a former director at Climate Neutral.
• Engineer Steven Yee also worked at Carbon Direct and with Seattle companies Convoy, Porch, Footprint-Finder and others.
  The startup and many of its investors have a strong connection to environmental and climate concerns, but converting forests to data centers or even solar farms doesn’t obviously align with those ideals. So how does the team square those concerns?
  Margason said the question gets a lot of attention internally, and their goal is to support responsible development — which the timberland owners appreciate.
  “If data centers are going to get built, if homes are going to get built, how do we help provide the right layers of information to inform not just the economic outputs, but also the environmental outputs,” he said, “and that’ll hopefully drive better decision making.”