Satellites on Fire Raises $2.7M for Climate Tech
▼ Summary
– Satellites on Fire is a wildfire detection startup founded in 2020 as a school project by three Argentine teenagers.
– The company has raised a $2.7 million seed round led by Dalus Capital to fund its expansion into the United States market.
– Its AI platform integrates data from over eight satellites to detect fires roughly 35 minutes faster than NASA’s FIRMS system.
– The software-as-a-service platform monitors territory in 21 countries and serves clients like forestry companies and insurers, including Aon.
– The system was rebuilt after founder interviews with firefighters and now uses a training database of over 20,000 validated fire reports.
A climate technology startup founded by Argentine teenagers has secured $2.7 million in seed funding to advance its AI-powered wildfire detection platform. The investment, spearheaded by Dalus Capital, will fuel the company’s expansion into the critical United States market. Satellites on Fire leverages a unique software-only platform that integrates data from more than eight satellites, enabling it to identify blazes significantly faster than existing public systems.
The company originated in 2020 as a school project for three secondary students at ORT Buenos Aires. Co-founders Franco Rodriguez Viau, Ulises López Pacholczak, and Joaquín Chamo were motivated after wildfires in Córdoba destroyed the homes of family friends. Their initial concept was completely rebuilt after consulting with over 80 firefighters, who helped them develop an operationally useful tool. Rodriguez Viau, now 22 and serving as CEO, was recently named to MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35 list for Latin America.
The core technological advantage lies in satellite coverage density. While services like NASA’s FIRMS rely on a limited satellite fleet with revisit intervals that can create multi-hour gaps, Satellites on Fire aggregates near-real-time imagery from NASA, NOAA, and the European Space Agency. Its proprietary AI models analyze heat signatures and run fire propagation simulations, delivering alerts through an integrated system that includes tower cameras. The company claims its platform detects fires an average of 35 minutes ahead of NASA FIRMS, a critical window for early containment. One documented case in Argentina showed the system providing alert seven hours before NASA.
Operating on a software-as-a-service model, pricing scales from $0.02 to $10 per hectare annually. The platform now monitors territories across 21 countries, boasting over 55,000 users. Its AI is trained on what the company calls the largest field-validated fire database in Latin America, compiled from more than 20,000 reports. In 2025 alone, the system supported responses to more than 600 wildfires.
Its client base spans forestry and agricultural firms, energy utilities, carbon projects, insurers, and government agencies. Global insurance broker Aon has integrated the platform into all its forestry insurance policies across Latin America for risk assessment. The new funding will accelerate several initiatives, including optimizing AI models and launching a parametric wildfire insurance product in partnership with Aon. A key focus is the U. S. expansion, where the company is conducting pilots and has partnered with the non-profit tracker Watch Duty.
Advisor John Mills, CEO of Watch Duty, stated the platform’s results using existing satellite data have “genuinely astounded” his team. Diego Serebrisky of Dalus Capital highlighted the investment as proof that Latin American founders are building globally competitive AI solutions for climate challenges. The startup previously raised $250,000 from Tim and Adam Draper after appearing on their show and has received recognition from the UN and support from MIT and Cornell. Looking ahead, the founders have expressed a long-term ambition to develop suppression technology using drones.
(Source: The Next Web)