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In response to one of the biggest challenges of the climate crisis, Israeli start-up FireDome is developing revolutionary technology that will change the way we respond to dangerous forest fires. The company, which recently announced a $4.5 million fundraising round, is unveiling an innovative solution that combines computer vision, advanced algorithms and special hardware. All this is aimed at deploying an automatic and immediate fire suppression system on site, long before the fire spreads and damages property and communities.
FireDome’s advanced technology includes the launch of capsules containing flame retardant material to prevent the spread of flames and for immediate detection and response to ignition points. Inspired by the Iron Dome system, this innovative solution provides two layers of protection, protecting agricultural assets, infrastructure and essential services, especially in wildfire-prone areas.
The company presents an ambitious vision: to become the core platform in the Fire-Tech industry (fire protection technologies) and move the world forward towards a future where we can deal with the consequences of the climate crisis more intelligently and efficiently.
The company completed a $3 million Pre-Seed funding round led by Israeli climate tech fund Gravity and US fund Third Sphere. The round also involved the German Caesar fund, which is investing in an Israeli start-up for the first time, as well as the Atooro and Vertex funds. In addition, the company received a $1.5 million grant from the Innovation Authority.
The FireDome system provides two layers of protection for assets located in areas at high risk of wildfire damage. The first is to create a resilient perimeter barrier using flame retardant material, launched in capsules from a mechanical launcher near the asset. This is intended to prevent flames from entering and causing massive damage to the asset and its surroundings.
The second is to detect and extinguish new fires within seconds, starting from the property due to wind-blown embers to miles away. This relies on sensor-based computer vision that detects ignition points and an algorithm that directs the launch vehicle to fire a capsule at the fire to extinguish it.
FireDome was founded in 2024 by Gadi Benjamini, the company’s CEO, and Dr. Adi Naor Pomerantz, the CTO. Gadi Benjamini served for fourteen years in various senior command positions in the Research Division and Unit 81 of the IDF Intelligence Directorate (AMAN), where he led strategic projects, one of which won the Israel Security Prize. He was also involved in another project that won the Israel Security Prize in collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Office.
Adi Naor Pomerantz, who also served in Unit 81, has a PhD in materials science and electrochemistry from Tel Aviv University. Before founding FireDome, Naor Pomerantz spent approximately 10 years at SolarEdge, where her last position was head of materials development R&D. One of the company’s senior advisors is Brigadier General (Res.) Pinchas (Pini) Yongman, one of the founders of the Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems, who is a major contributor to the development of FireDome’s layered defense concept against wildfires. The company employs 7 people in its Tel Aviv office.
Gadi Beniminy, co-founder and CEO of FireDome, said: “Global warming in recent years has intensified the forest fire phenomenon, both in terms of the size of the fires and their lethality. In 2023, the US Senate estimated the cost of direct and indirect damage from forest fires will be between $400 and $900 billion.
Fires that consumed about a billion hectares of forest in 2023 released about 1.8 gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere, a phenomenon that is amplifying global warming and worsening climate disasters including wildfires, floods and hurricanes. Therefore, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, technological solutions are needed to help humanity adapt to climate changes. The target groups for this solution are varied: from asset owners in sectors such as agriculture, recreation and infrastructure (such as water and electricity) to fire stations and insurance companies who are forced to pay enormous amounts in compensation for wildfire damage and even forego providing insurance to property owners in areas at high risk of wildfire.”
Beniminy added: “Traditional firefighting systems today struggle to deal with forest fires due to their increasing scale and intensity. FireDome belongs to a new technology industry, Fire-Tech, a sub-industry of the climate technology sector that uses the most advanced technologies to solve an existential problem for humanity.
The funds now raised and the confidence of investors will enable us to profile ourselves as one of the leading companies in this emerging market, which is increasingly based on advanced interdisciplinary technologies. Our vision is to build partnerships with other companies in the firefighting sector to create the full value chain for protecting communities from wildfires: training communities to improve the preparedness of their properties, monitoring and early detection of small fires, and FireDome- rapid response technology to extinguish the fire.”
Tzafrir Yoeli, co-founder of Gravity Climate, said: “We found in FireDome the perfect combination of brilliant founders with high execution capabilities and technology that addresses one of the biggest environmental and commercial challenges posed by the climate crisis. The increasing size and severity of wildfires is driving up the cost of insurance policies, for both commercial and residential assets. This creates a high demand for specific fire protection solutions, and FireDome’s groundbreaking technology perfectly meets this need.”
Sean Abramson, Managing Partner at Third Sphere, said: “Our team has been exploring new and promising approaches to reducing wildfire risks for a decade. FireDome is the first to combine detection capabilities and immediate response, especially for property owners who live near areas prone to wildfires. Existing technologies reduce the risk of wildfires in cities using fire extinguishers and water sprinklers. FireDome aims to be the core infrastructure that ultimately reduces the risk to people and property as consequences of forest fires will decrease.
FireDome is participating in the Next October initiative to commemorate the fallen of the ‘Iron Swords’ war, and as part of this it is honoring the memory of Eden Ben Ruby, who was murdered at the Nova party on October 7, 2023.
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