Satellites on Fire

Who Is Behind the Company

Satellites on Fire was founded in 2020 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by three teenagers as a school project, a response to wildfires in Córdoba that affected one founder's family [The Company Check, retrieved 2024]. The company has since evolved into a venture-backed entity with a formal corporate structure.

The startup's first institutional milestone was participation in the Techstars accelerator program, which included a $20,000 seed investment in June 2023 [The Company Check, retrieved 2024]. This was followed by a $2.7 million seed round in April 2026, led by Dalus Capital and backed by a syndicate of over a dozen regional and international funds [Preqin, April 2026]. The company's headquarters remain in Buenos Aires, operating as a private entity with a team estimated at 17 employees as of late 2024 [Descubre VC, retrieved 2024].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Founding date and accelerator funding corroborated by corporate registry; later funding round confirmed by a financial database. Headcount figure is from a single, unverified source.

Under the Hood

The company’s core offering is a real-time wildfire and deforestation early alert system [Satellites on Fire]. It integrates multiple data streams into a single interface, aiming to consolidate the entire fire-protection workflow [Satellites on Fire].

The platform’s primary data sources are satellite imagery, updated every 5 to 10 minutes, and tower-mounted optical and thermal cameras [Satellites on Fire]. These feeds are processed by proprietary AI models that detect ignition points and simulate potential fire spread, incorporating weather forecasts to inform response planning [Descubre VC]. The company claims its system provides detection faster and more accurate than NASA’s open fire products, citing an average lead time of 35 minutes ahead of NASA’s FIRMS service [PreventionWeb, 2026].

Customer model

The service is positioned for organizations managing land, forests, and critical infrastructure, including governments, utilities, and large landholders [Descubre VC]. Named Latin American customers include the beverage company Quilmes and the renewable energy firm Genneia [Descubre VC].

Go-to-market wedge

A freemium model offers basic monitoring for free, with charges applying to advanced analytics, historical data, and third-party integrations [Descubre VC].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Product claims are sourced from the company website and investor materials; performance claims are cited in third-party reports but lack independent technical validation.

Market Research

The urgency for wildfire detection technology is escalating, driven by tangible economic losses and a global policy shift towards climate adaptation funding. The global market for satellite-based Earth observation data and services was valued at $4.6 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2028 [MarketsandMarkets, 2024]. The market for wildfire detection systems was estimated at $1.2 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 6.5% through 2030 [Grand View Research, 2023].

Metric	Value
Earth Observation Data & Services (2023)	$4.6B
Wildfire Detection Systems (2022)	$1.2B

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing drawn from analogous third-party reports.

Competition and Substitutes

Satellites on Fire operates in a nascent market for AI-driven environmental monitoring. Its positioning hinges on integrating high-frequency satellite feeds with ground sensors into a single, real-time alerting platform.

Public data platforms

Services like NASA's FIRMS provide the foundational, freely available satellite fire detection data that Satellites on Fire aims to improve upon. The company's claimed edge is speed, stating its system detects fires an average of 35 minutes ahead of NASA's service [PreventionWeb, 2026].

Specialized analytics firms

Firms like Planet Labs and Descartes Labs possess the underlying data infrastructure that could be directed toward wildfire detection.

Integrated hardware-software operators

Satellites on Fire's integration of its own camera network represents a point of differentiation from pure software analytics players [Satellites on Fire, 2024].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitive analysis is inferred from the company's stated positioning and the general market structure.

Opportunity

The prize for Satellites on Fire is a position as the primary, trusted early-warning system for wildfire and deforestation risk. The company's cited technology integration addresses a critical, unmet need for speed and actionable insight [Satellites on Fire, 2024].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Scenario plausibility is supported by cited product claims and early traction.

Sources

1. [Satellites on Fire, retrieved 2024] Satellites On Fire | https://www.satellitesonfire.com/en
2. [The Company Check, retrieved 2024] Satellites on Fire | https://www.thecompanycheck.com/company/b/satellites-on-fire/4lfymmobjz49raizn
3. [Preqin, April 2026] Satellites On Fire - Preqin | https://www.preqin.com/data/profile/asset/satellites-on-fire/795657
4. [LA NACION, retrieved 2026] New technologies: Next from Argentina - Satellites on Fire | https://cancilleria.gob.ar/en/new-technologies/next-from-argentina-en/satellites-fire
5. [Draper Cygnus, retrieved 2024] Satellites On Fire - Draper Cygnus | https://www.drapercygnus.vc/startups/satellites-on-fire
6. [Descubre VC, retrieved 2024] Satellites on Fire | https://www.descubre.vc/satellites-on-fire
7. [PreventionWeb, 2026] Satellites on Fire: A new era of wildfire detection | https://g20land.org/blog/satellites-on-fire-a-new-era-of-wildfire-detection/
8. [YouTube, 2024] Satellites on Fire - Techstars Demo Day | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iyC8zJxN4s
9. [MIT Solve] Satellites on Fire - MIT Solve | https://solve.mit.edu/solutions/102011
10. [MarketsandMarkets, 2024] Earth Observation Market by End User, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2028 | https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/earth-observation-market-243344102.html
11. [Grand View Research, 2023] Wildfire Detection Systems Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report | https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/wildfire-detection-systems-market-report