Fire Nozzle Inventor Builds AI Data Empire from Wildfire Roots

Sunny Sethi started HEN Technologies in Hayward, California, in June 2020 after California's wildfires hit close to home. His wife, left alone with their three-year-old daughter during an evacuation warning while he was traveling, told him to fix the problem or he was not a real scientist. Now, the company makes nozzles that put out fires three times faster using 67% less water, and it has raised $22 million to build an AI platform from the data those tools collect.

Background

Sethi earned his PhD at the University of Akron, where he studied surfaces and adhesion. After that, he started ADAP Nanotech, a company that worked on carbon nanotube materials and got grants from the Air Force Research Lab. He moved on to SunPower, where he helped develop materials for solar panels. Later, at TE Connectivity, he worked on adhesives for car manufacturing.

In 2013, Sethi and his family moved from Ohio to California's East Bay area. Wildfires like the Thomas Fire, Camp Fire, and Napa-Sonoma fires grew worse each year. In 2019, during one scare, his wife faced evacuation alone. That pushed him to act. He got funding from the National Science Foundation and began research on how water fights fire and how wind affects nozzles.

Traditional fire hoses date back to the 1960s with little change. Firefighters use the same basic tools even as fires burn hotter and spread faster due to climate shifts and urban growth. Sethi saw firefighters struggling with tools that broke apart in wind. He used computational fluid dynamics to design nozzles that control droplet size, speed, and stream shape.

HEN's first product, the nozzle, keeps streams tight even in gusts. Tests show it suppresses fires 300% faster at the same water flow. The company calls this hardware 'the muscle on the ground.'

Key Details

HEN has grown beyond nozzles. It now makes monitors, valves, sprinklers, and pressure tools. This year, it plans to launch Stream IQ, a flow-control device, and discharge systems. Each piece has sensors and circuit boards, some with Nvidia Orion Nano processors. The company has filed 20 patent applications, with six approved.

All devices connect to a cloud platform. It pulls in weather data, GPS from equipment, and real-time fire info. Fire captains get alerts if wind shifts or a truck runs low on water. Battalion chiefs see crew positions. Incident commanders track the full picture.

The platform uses physics-informed neural networks to predict fire spread. It turns raw data from nozzles and sensors into models for better decisions. Sethi compares it to Adobe's cloud shift, but for firefighting.

Funding came in at $22 million. Investors see value in the data, not just hardware. HEN serves the U.S. Marine Corps, Army bases, Naval labs, NASA, Abu Dhabi Civil Defense, and ships to 22 countries. It works with 120 distributors and just got GSA approval, which speeds sales to government buyers.

The team has 50 people, including a former Adobe cloud director, a NASA engineer, and staff from Tesla, Apple, and Microsoft. Sethi handles business while experts build the tech.

Products in Action

At FDIC International in 2025, Sethi showed the Hen Titan master stream nozzle. It reaches farther, uses less water, and has blade tech for control. Ray McCormack, director of business development, presented the Force nozzle. It runs at low pressure with a blade pattern that makes hoses easier to handle.

"Firefighters need to trust that new equipment will help them do their jobs better and more safely," Sethi said.

Fire departments like the nozzle because it cuts water use and waste. In tests, HEN gear holds streams steady while old nozzles scatter.

What This Means

HEN's data platform could change how emergency teams respond. Real-time info might save lives by spotting risks early, like wind changes that trap crews. Less water means trucks refill less often, letting them stay in the fight longer.

The AI side draws big interest. Fire data teaches machines about real physics—smoke, heat, wind. This could train models for other fields, like weather forecasting or disaster planning. Investors bet on that gold mine.

Selling to fire departments is hard. End users want gear that works, but purchases go through slow government processes. HEN cracked both by testing with firefighters and winning approvals.

"The hardest part is making a product that resonates with people but still goes through government buying," Sethi said. "We have cracked both."

Demand outpaces supply. With wildfires worsening and cities growing, tools like these fill a gap. HEN plans to scale production and add features. Its mix of hardware and software sets it apart in a field stuck in the past.

Fire services in 22 countries already use HEN gear. U.S. military and space agencies test it too. As climate drives more extreme fires, this tech could become standard. The data it gathers might one day predict blazes before they start, giving teams an edge.