Climate change has wreaked havoc on natural landscapes as houses are built closer together and the threat of wildfires has increased. Tech meant to minimize the scale and damage of natural disasters has begun to be developed by entrepreneurs. A new venture capital firm is looking to back them.
The former co- founder and CEO of WePay raised $35 million for a first fund to back early-stage startups that can help detect and contain fires. Roughly 15 companies will be invested by the fund.
Some of these startup could fall under the umbrella of climate tech, but focusing on wildfire solutions fits more into the climate resilience category. Climate tech is meant to prevent or minimize future problems, but he thinks the distinction makes it easier to invest in.
The thesis turned out to be a mixed bag as some investors understood the need immediately while others thought it was too niche.
It made it easier to raise money because there were people who had seen the economic opportunity first-hand. They had experienced it in different ways.
After leaving WePay, he became a volunteer fire fighter. He saw the effects of the growing wildfire crisis when one of the natural disasters closed down the road to his house and he was unable to get home insurance.
Having a vested interest in the outdoors led me down this path, as I watched wildfires become the big crisis. I began to think about how technology could be a solution.
He admitted that he was bored at the thought of hearing another fintech pitch. He specialized in fire tech companies. He wanted to invest in the sector at a large scale.
According to him, there are currently 200 startup focused on this area. The startup that uses camera systems and artificial intelligence to help emergency response teams detect fires earlier is one of the companies that are tackling the wildfire crisis.
The missing piece was that the community came together and acknowledged that fire tech is important. It doesn't exist as a category. We want to help these people get to know each other by bringing awareness to that category.
While most likely everyone in California has been impacted by wildfires, it is nice to see that someone is trying to do something about it. He wants his involvement to draw in more builders and investors.
New emerging growth is what all larger pools of resources and capital look for. There is a new area of growth that is proving to be important to late-stage investors.
He doesn't believe that any sector can be recession proof, but he does believe that firetech isn't tied to broader market conditions. Many of the companies he supports aren't preventing the fires from starting, but he hopes they can help mitigate some of the damage.
The challenge of using the power of startups to have a positive impact is inspiring. One of the reasons why I and my partners went after this.
Pano has a burning desire to apply AI smarts to wildfire detection
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