Torch Systems Raises $11.5 Million to Expand Its Outdoor Asset Intelligence Platform

Torch Systems has raised $11.5 million in total funding as it expands an AI-powered monitoring platform for outdoor infrastructure. The Lafayette, California-based company said the financing includes $9.5 million in equity from Khosla Ventures, Abstract, Construct Capital and Starship Ventures, plus $2 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank.

Torch plans to use the capital to increase manufacturing and field deployments of its TerraNode sensing devices, expand its go-to-market and field operations teams, and continue developing its Torch Intelligence Platform. The company says the funding supports a broader shift from a wildfire-detection product toward what it calls outdoor asset intelligence: continuous monitoring across widely distributed infrastructure.

A multi-sensor device for remote sites

TerraNode combines optical and thermal cameras with acoustic, gas, air-quality and environmental sensors. It is solar-powered, uses on-device edge AI and wireless connectivity, and is designed to operate without an external power supply or wired network connection. Torch says a device can be installed in minutes, including at remote solar farms, transmission corridors and other sites where conventional monitoring infrastructure can be costly or difficult to install.

The platform is intended to apply the same field hardware to several kinds of events. Depending on the deployment, those include early signs of fire, overheating equipment, security or access events, vegetation growth and environmental changes. Torch says its software establishes historical context for each location, learns normal operating patterns and flags meaningful deviations. It can also correlate events across multiple TerraNodes and provide alerts, reporting and role-based event management.

This approach puts Torch among companies applying AI and sensing to energy infrastructure. For comparison, Unite.AI’s coverage of Buzz Solutions’ utility grid-intelligence platform describes a different approach centered on analyzing imagery and inspection data from existing utility assets.

Deployments across six states

Torch says hundreds of TerraNodes are now deployed across California, Oregon, New Mexico, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island for utility, renewable-energy, municipal and industrial customers. The company reports that its devices have detected fires at early stages in California, New Mexico and Oregon, along with equipment faults, security issues and other operating anomalies.

Dominion Energy is using Torch at solar sites to monitor for potential fire risk, solar-panel misalignment, overheating and vegetation growth. Chris Nee, the utility’s manager of renewables, said the system gives its teams another way to identify issues across a large solar and battery-storage portfolio and focus attention where needed.

Torch is also deployed in municipal and commercial settings, including citywide fire-monitoring networks and industrial operations. The company says its new capital will help it move from hundreds of devices toward thousands.

From wildfire detection to broader monitoring

Co-founder and CEO Vasya Tremsin began developing the technology in 2018 after experiencing Northern California wildfires. The early project focused on whether sensors could detect a wildfire’s first signs before people could. According to Torch, field deployments later showed customers wanted visibility into other conditions too, from equipment health and site access to vegetation and air quality.

“Critical outdoor infrastructure should be able to tell you what’s happening before a small problem becomes a major event,” Tremsin said.

Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla said operators managing remote sites often lack visibility into on-the-ground conditions, adding that Torch’s sensors can read signals cameras and satellites cannot detect.

Torch’s announcement reflects a wider infrastructure challenge: organizations may manage thousands of outdoor assets, but power, connectivity and site access can make continuous monitoring difficult. The company is betting that compact, solar-powered sensor nodes combined with edge processing and a shared intelligence platform can give operators earlier notice across multiple types of risk.