Disaster Response

Prime Minute Raises $15M to Build AI-Driven Wildfire Suppression System

Palo Alto, Calif. – September 24, 2026 -- Prime Minute emerged from stealth with $15 million in pre-seed funding led by Eclipse, with participation from 8VC, to build what it calls the first global resilience prime for natural disaster response.

Wildfires cost the US an estimated $424 billion annually, driving urgency for faster response

The company's initial product targets rapid initial attack against wildfires, addressing gaps in detection, coordination, and suppression that determine whether a fire is contained early or escalates into a major disaster. The system combines real-time intelligence, AI-assisted mission analysis, and precision aerial suppression capabilities designed to operate during high winds, nighttime incidents, degraded visual environments, and when ground crews cannot reach a scene.

XPRIZE Wildfire Hands Out $4.55M for Detection, Autonomous Suppression Tech

New York – September 23, 2026 -- XPRIZE awarded $4.55 million to innovators across two tracks of its $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition, recognizing breakthroughs in space-based detection and autonomous suppression technologies during a ceremony at the New York City Fire Museum.

Space-based detection track distributes $1.05 million across five teams

SIRIUS Wildfire Alliance took first place with $500,000 for integrating SAR and optical satellite data to characterize fires and model spread. Team Snuffed earned $250,000 for a probabilistic data-fusion framework built for firefighter usability. MyRadar, DeepFire and Mayday.AI each received $100,000 special recognition awards for commercial viability, operational fire-spread alerts, and repurposed volcanic-ash detection algorithms applied to smoke plumes, respectively.