Think of a problem; there is probably a drone to solve it.

Drones have made a lot of previously dangerous operations safer; have collected more reliable data, have brought healthcare supplies to far flung communities…

… and they have helped a brother score a date. For real.

No surprise then that a California-based start-up has explored the possibilities of drone technology stopping wildfires in their infant stage – and a lot of investors have found value in that proposition.

Founded in 2019, Rain is an aerial fire-fighting technology start-up that adapts autonomous aircraft with a wildfire intelligence system to rapidly perceive, understand and suppress early-stage wildfire ignitions, capabilities not yet seen in wildfire technology.

The company’s technology enables the prepositioning of the firefighting drones in high wildfire risk areas and works with existing wildfire detection systems that come alive as soon as ignition is detected, triggering drone deployment within seconds and reaching a nascent fire within minutes.

Apparently, this is a solution to wildfires that investors find scalable – Rain recently closed a seed round of $9.7million, which was led by DBL Partners and include other investors like Immad Akhund, Brian Bjelde, Steve Blank, John and Patrick Collison, Edward Fenster, Dylan Field, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Geoff Ralston, and Blake Scholl.

VoLo Earth Ventures, Kapor Capital and Convective Capital also took part in the funding round, which Rain says will be used for the scaling up of pilot projects to fight fires in the United States.

“Rain’s technology enables a wildfire response time so fast that we can actually stop fires before they have a chance to grow out of control,” said Maxwell Brodie, CEO and founder.

“Every year catastrophic wildfires claim lives, destroy entire communities, and diminish the carbon reduction efforts of nations and states. Early response timing, like any emergency, can make all the difference in a successful outcome.”

In the US, costs associated with wildfires average $348billion every year. With extreme wildfires in the country estimated to rise fourteen percent by 2030, the collective problem will get worse.

But new research shows that a fifteen-minute improvement to wildfire response time could generate an economic benefit of $3,5-8,2billion dollars in California alone.

“Catastrophic wildfires are a climate flywheel we cannot ignore,” said Nancy Pfund, Founder and Managing Partner, DBL Partners and board member at Rain.

“Eighteen percent of total global fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions were emitted by wildfires in 2021. The carbon dioxide emissions from the 2023 Canadian wildfires are approaching three times the annual emissions of the state of California.

“Working with firefighting professionals, land owners and managers, conservation experts, residents, government officials, insurers, utilities and other constituencies, Rain can help to catalyse a new, more effective approach to preventing the spread of unwanted wildfires.

“Rain’s 21^st century technology not only promises to drive better wildfire outcomes, it will also help to create important new markets, and jobs. As an impact venture capital firm, we at DBL see Rain’s mission as the epitome of Double Bottom Line Investing.”

Interestingly, the US government has released a policy guideline this year, encouraging or requiring fire agencies to develop plans to adopt autonomous aircraft for rapid wildfire suppression.

“Forests have reached a critical tipping point, releasing more carbon due to wildfire than they are able to store,” stated investor Kareem Dabbagh, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, VoLo Earth Ventures.

“Rain’s platform, as the future of autonomous aircraft for wildfire protection, will save billions of dollars in expense and allow insurers the ability to improve their wildfire risk adoption, protecting property, electric grids, and human and planetary health.”

John Collison, President of Stripe also added his voice to the call for more drone-based technology in the fight against wildfires.

“The steady rise of catastrophic wildfires is plain to see. Aerial firefighting is one of the most important use cases for autonomous flight, where Rain’s technological leaps can shorten response times, keep pilots out of harm’s way, and increase total fire suppression capabilities at a time when we sorely need them,” Collision said.

“Bring on the firefighter drones!”