Sonic Fire Tech raises $15M to put out fires with sound
What's the deal? Sonic Fire Tech, an Ohio-based startup developing a sound-powered fire suppression system, has raised $15 million in an early-stage round. The O.H.I.O. FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the deal, with Khosla Ventures participating. The company raised a $3.5 million seed in October 2025.
What's the endgame? Sonic Fire Tech's system pumps inaudible sound through PVC ceiling pipes; when sensors detect a fire, a generator sends infrasonic waves of around 20 Hz to bombard the flames. It says the approach snuffs out fires within seconds while sparing properties from water and chemical damage.
Why it matters: Commercial kitchens can face months of cleanup after a fire, and some 75% never reopen, COO Remington Bixby Hotchkis told TechCrunch. "We are the only technology that creates its own suppressant without collateral damage," he said. "We deploy within seconds."
Why now? The funding will help the startup hire and run the tests needed to earn approval from the National Fire Protection Association, which writes the model codes fire departments adopt nationwide.
What could go wrong? That approval typically takes about three years. Co-founder and chief executive officer Geoff Bruder expects Sonic Fire Tech's timeline to be "significantly shorter than that," partly because its system leaves no mess to clean up after lab tests.
The signal: The round sits in the top 10% of all-time early-stage VC deals in US energy, a sign of investor appetite for hardware that could displace a century of water- and chemical-based fire protection.
Read more: The United Hell
Image credit: Sonic Fire Tech
