Sonic Fire Tech raises $15M for sound-based fire suppression

For over a century, fire protection has been limited to water and chemicals, which can prevent catastrophic fires but leave significant cleanup bills. Sonic Fire Tech is testing a sound-powered fire protection system that it says snuffs out fires within seconds while sparing properties from water and chemical damage. The company announced Monday that it has raised a $15 million round led by The O.H.I.O. Fund, with participation from Khosla Ventures. The Ohio-based startup previously raised a $3.5 million seed round in October.

The fresh funding will help Sonic Fire Tech hire more employees and run the tests needed to earn approval from the National Fire Protection Association, which writes model codes adopted by fire departments around the country. Approval typically takes about three years, but co-founder and CEO Geoff Bruder told TechCrunch he thinks the company’s process will be “significantly shorter than that.” Part of his optimism stems from the fact that the system doesn’t leave a mess after a fire-suppression event, which should speed testing; lab tests can otherwise take hours to prepare because of cleanup, he said.

That advantage could pay off in the real world, too. Commercial kitchens, for example, can face months of cleanup and restoration after a fire, and some 75% of them don’t reopen, according to Sonic Fire Tech COO Remington Bixby Hotchkis.

The acoustic system uses a sound generator to pump inaudible sound through PVC pipes in the ceiling. When sensors in a room detect a fire, the generator activates and infrasonic waves, around 20 Hz, bombard the flames. “We are the only technology that creates its own suppressant without collateral damage. False alarms are less of a concern for us,” Hotchkis said. “We deploy within seconds.”

That speedy response could stop fires before they cause significant damage, which has drawn interest from the insurance industry; the startup is in talks with insurers about whether the system will qualify for premium discounts. The system also shows promise on lithium-ion battery fires, among the hardest to put out. In the few tests run so far, “we don’t put out a lithium-ion fire, but we contain it,” Bruder said, adding that keeping the outer casing from catching fire could stop cell-to-cell spread and limit a fire’s size.

Sonic Fire Tech is working on systems for commercial building interiors, kitchens, and homes, for both new construction and retrofits, as well as a system to protect home exteriors in wildfire country, though that effort has progressed more slowly while the startup waits for time at a suitable testing lab. Today, about 500 jurisdictions mandate interior fire protection systems, and Bruder notes that 50% of home fires start in the kitchen, whether from grease or electrical causes.

Why it matters

If it clears fire-code approval, a mess-free suppression system could reshape how insurers and building codes price fire risk in the spaces most prone to it — commercial kitchens and battery-dense buildings alike.