Why We Exist
Extreme wildfires are happening at an unprecedented scale, more frequently than any other time in history, but the ways we prevent, fight, and recover from fire aren't keeping up.
Millions of acres now burn each year, despite billions in spending. The rapid acceleration of fires and their negative impacts on air quality and carbon release have become an urgent global issue. The status quo isn’t working for anyone.
The Problem
Wildfire is a complex, compounding problem with interrelated causes. A century-long policy of maximum fire suppression with poor forest management has created record fuel loads. Climate change has lengthened the fire season, increased fuel dryness, and reduced precipitation.
The wildland-urban interface has grown by 40% in the last 20 years. And the same high winds that cause extreme fire behavior also cause our fragile, aging power grid to fail at the worst times on the worst days.
Extreme fire begets more extreme fire - leaving scarred landscapes vulnerable to future incidents, creating its own fire-driven weather patterns, accelerating climate change by releasing enormous amounts of CO2, and absorbing resources that could otherwise be used for prevention.
We have to break this dangerous cycle.
What’s the solution?
Technology, delivered at startup speed. While some technology has been applied to early detection and wildfire suppression, we need more of it, with an increased focus on wildfire mitigation and risk reduction. We believe startups can deliver this and specialized venture capital can help.
With approaches grounded in market forces, entrepreneurial creativity, endless hustle, and an appetite to take risk, startup founders can bring a fresh perspective and innovative tools. We need them to get in the fight alongside communities, firefighters, foresters, scientists, policy-makers and philanthropists.
Encouraging innovation and building solutions to wildfire is also good for business and local communities alike. Industries like utilities, insurance, construction, tourism, timber, and agriculture need agile startup partners to help them adapt to this new wildfire context. Communities on the frontlines of extreme wildfire impacts need responsible innovations that enable community well-being and ecosystem resilience as well.
Convective aims to be the investor of choice to founders building Firetech.
Convective was founded to support entrepreneurs who are building solutions across all phases of wildfire,
from prevention and risk mitigation to suppression and recovery.
We believe in the magnitude of the threat and the opportunity. Our portfolio companies do too.
Extreme wildfire can be solved. Our mission is to back founders building the solutions to it and to help them succeed.