Blazing Trails: wildfire defence startups

A climate catastrophe

Global forest fires now result in 3M more hectares of tree cover loss per year compared to 2001, and accounted for more than one-quarter of all tree cover loss over the past 20 years.

Most concerning of all is the perpetuating fires in our planet’s largest rainforest: the Amazon.

• Brazil’s Amazon rainforest experienced its worst six-month period of wildfires in 20 years, despite a decrease in deforestation, according to satellite data released this July.
• From January to June 2024, 13,489 wildfires were recorded, 2,639 of which from June alone. This marks a more than 60 percent increase compared to the previous year.
• Between January and April 2024, more than 12,000 square kilometers (4,633 square miles) of the Amazon rainforest burned, the highest amount in over two decades.

In Canada between January and July 2023, 9.5M hectares of its land wiped, the equivalent surface area of Portugal.

On top of massive carbon sinks being destroyed, wildfires lead to significant aftermaths: a staggering 2 billion tonnes of CO2 were released, roughly tripling the entire country’s annual carbon footprint. Emissions only from January 1st to July 31st are equivalent to the annual emissions from over 285 coal-fired power plants.

Health & social impact

Wildfires are also an acute public health issue. According to the Guardian, as a result of Canadian wildfires, New York City experienced the worst day of air pollution on US record, drastically worsening air quality. On this day the city was technically unliveable.

The Amazon is also home to one million indigenous people. Beyond shelter security, water and food supplies are also impacted: local indigenous organizations estimate that at least 70,000 people were impacted by the lack of access to drinking water due to recent fires in the Amazon.

Insurance time bomb

In addition to a climate crisis, wildfires are becoming an insurance crisis. In 2023 in the US, wildfires have already caused over $1B in damages. As a result insurers are now refusing to offer insurance coverage in certain high-risk areas.

Governments x startup innovation

In recent years, Greece has faced a significant number of wildfires, affecting about 2 percent of the country’s total land area. Due to its rugged mountainous terrain and over 6,000 islands, fighting wildfires in Greece is particularly challenging. The need to monitor fires in remote and mountainous regions, where communication is often limited, requires more advanced detection technologies.

To address this, Greece has become the first country to enlist a startup’s assistance in building a national wildfire monitoring system. The Ministry of Digital Governance has announced a €20 million investment in collaboration with the thermal intelligence provider OroraTech. This partnership will include the deployment of four thermal satellites and the development of a comprehensive wildfire management system. Along with a consortium of Greek subcontractors, OroraTech will provide ground systems, processing services, and a constellation of thermal imaging satellites dedicated to monitoring wildfires across the entire country.

Investment is still needed as this segment is still widely under funded. 2021-2023 showed somewhat encouraging but decreasing year over year levels, 2024 is not expected to match previous highs. Moreover, no mega rounds have been recorded yet, startups are still in early stages of funding.

At EU level, the new EU Climate Commissioner is advocating for a special EU fund to help Southern Europe implement preventive measures. The Nature Restoration Law, in effect since June, requires member states to restore 90% of at-risk habitats by 2050. Additionally, the Commission's proposal for a Europe-wide forest monitoring database will aid in early detection of droughts and fires. Startups may be able to play a role in habitat restoration as well as mitigation.

Wildfire startups

There are over 90 startups tracked on Dealroom that are building innovations to either prevent, detect or respond to wildfires. Their total valuation reached $5.1B this year, a record high.

In terms of geographical comparison, most funding goes to American and European startups. Though South America is one of the most impacted continents it pulls in a much lower amount of funding in contrast, we have found a few Latin American companies in the field.

In terms of type of funding, multiple companies have received grants.

How can startups help?

To help alleviate the devastation of fires in the Amazon, researchers have found that it is essential to increase command and control operations, expand fire brigades and develop monitoring systems that can help predict sites of possible future fires. These are all processes that can be augmented through leveraging various startup’s technologies.

Wildfire prevention: use of satellite imagining, drones and other sensors to acquire data and plan forest management, as well as electric lines monitoring.
Examples: Overstory, Treeswift, Buzz Solutions, Gridware.

Wildfire detection tech: using satellite & imaging or gas sensors & IoT networks to fastly detect wildfires.
Examples: OroraTech, Chooch, Orbital Sidekick

Wildfire threat response: tactical and operational management software for firefighters, as well as tech for firefighting such as drones.
Examples: Pano AI, Rain, Drone Hopper

Additionally some relevant topics connected to wildfire management include:

Air quality monitoring & treatment: Sensors and data analysis solutions to monitor air quality, as well as devices for the purification of air (especially for indoor spaces).
Examples: rZero, enVerid Systems, Molekule

Climate catastrophe insurance: Insurance coverage for extreme-weather events such as wildfire, flooding and storms. Mostly data providers, risk assessment or parametric insurance MGAs.
Examples: Descartes Underwriting, ZestyAI, Understory

Explore over 90 wildfire management startups in Dealroom.co and check out the full Urban Tech 2023 report in partnership with 2150.