Pano AI Secures $44M to Battle a Growing Wildfire Crisis

As wildfires scorch record amounts of land across the globe, the stakes for early detection have never been higher. That’s where Pano AI is stepping in—with a powerful blend of machine learning, optical hardware, and cloud infrastructure designed to detect fires in real time before they spiral out of control.

Today, the San Francisco-based wildfire intelligence company announced it has raised $44 million in Series B funding, led by Giant Ventures, with participation from Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, Tokio Marine Future Fund, and returning investors such as Salesforce Ventures and Initialized Capital. This latest round brings Pano AI’s total funding to $89 million and will be used to scale deployments across high-risk regions in North America and Australia.

The Escalating Wildfire Emergency

The planet is burning — in the United States alone, 64,897 wildfires were reported in 2024, up from 56,580 in 2023. These fires consumed 8,924,884 acres, a dramatic increase from 2,693,910 acres the previous year. Fueled by rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and stronger winds, wildfires are spreading faster and burning hotter than ever before. They’re no longer just seasonal events—they’ve become a year-round, global emergency, threatening lives, critical infrastructure, and ecosystems from California to Queensland.

But while the threat has grown, detection and response systems have remained largely analog. In many places, wildfires are still reported by phone. This delay between ignition and detection can mean the difference between a manageable burn and a catastrophic inferno.

Enter Pano AI: A New Era of Wildfire Defense

Pano AI’s system brings precision and speed to firefighting by leveraging AI-powered detection, real-time imagery, and multi-agency coordination. The platform deploys high-resolution camera stations—outfitted with **6-megapixel dual lenses and 30x optical zoom—**on mountaintops and strategic vantage points. These stations sweep the horizon every 60 seconds, generating a 360-degree panorama and transmitting the data back to the cloud.

There, Pano’s machine learning algorithms get to work. Trained on millions of images, the AI continuously scans for early signs of wildfire smoke—even in low-light or nighttime conditions. When a potential fire is spotted, it’s verified by human analysts at the Pano Intelligence Center and cross-checked with satellite feeds, emergency databases, and GIS overlays before alerts are dispatched to first responders.

This fusion of computer vision, geospatial intelligence, and triangulation algorithms enables Pano to deliver precise GPS coordinates of ignition points within minutes of a fire starting—often long before the first 911 call.

Real-World Impact: The Bear Creek Fire

The benefits of Pano’s approach were dramatically demonstrated on June 16, 2024. During Red Flag conditions in Douglas County, Colorado, lightning struck a remote stretch of Bennett Mountain. Pano AI detected the smoke, verified it, and relayed exact coordinates within minutes.

While ground crews trekked two hours to the site, helicopters launched a rapid aerial assault, dropping 18,000 gallons of water over five hours. Thanks to early detection and swift response coordination, the fire was contained to just three acres—saving lives, forestland, and a nearby watershed serving over one million residents.

Mike Alexander, Director of Emergency Management for Douglas County, didn’t mince words: “Pano has become an essential part of how we conduct modern wildland firefighting.”

A Broader Shift Toward Autonomous Resilience

Pano AI’s mission goes beyond firefighting—it’s about building infrastructure-level resilience to climate disasters. The company now partners with over 250 emergency response agencies, 15 major electric utilities, and stakeholders in forestry, renewable energy, ski resorts, and local governments.

Companies like Portland General Electric have integrated Pano AI into their wildfire mitigation strategies. “It’s a critical element of our broader strategy to protect people and infrastructure during increasingly complex fire seasons,” said CEO Maria Pope.

This level of ecosystem integration mirrors trends across the AI landscape—where edge computing, DevOps for disaster response, and autonomous systems are converging to create real-time, data-driven platforms capable of responding to natural disasters with minimal human delay.

A Global Mission, Backed by Global Capital

Pano’s Series B investors see the company not just as a firetech startup, but as a climate infrastructure company. Cameron McLain of Giant Ventures said, “Pano AI is creating a new layer of resilience that will massively reduce the impact of increasingly frequent fire events.”

Tokio Marine, a major global insurer, sees Pano’s work as core to futureproofing communities. “This is now a global challenge,” said Group Chief Digital Officer Masashi Namatame. “We are proud to join Pano on its mission.”

And that mission is urgent. With climate change accelerating, fire seasons are getting longer and more lethal. Pano’s end-to-end service—from camera network design and installation to agency training and multi-channel alerting—offers a rare turnkey solution in an industry plagued by fragmentation.

Building a Safer Future, One Frame at a Time

Founded in 2020 by Sonia Kastner (CEO) and Arvind Satyam (Chief Commercial Officer), Pano AI is now one of the most well-funded startups in wildfire tech. As a founding member of the Association of Firetech Innovation, the company is helping set the standard for how modern societies adapt to environmental threats.

What’s next? With fresh capital in hand, Pano AI plans to deepen coverage across the U.S., expand into additional fire-prone territories, and continue refining its AI models for even faster, more accurate detection.

Because when every minute counts, having a smarter set of eyes on the horizon isn’t just an upgrade—it’s a lifeline.