What Rain Industries does

Rain Industries is a privately held autonomous wildfire management company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Alameda, California. The company develops wildfire mission autonomy software that retrofits existing military and civil autonomous aircraft — primarily Sikorsky Black Hawk and Firehawk helicopters operating through Sikorsky's MATRIX flight autonomy platform — with the intelligence to detect, target, and suppress wildfires. Core technology components include a fire perception and targeting system (onboard thermal and visual cameras localizing fires to within 6 feet), a wind deviation model validated to 3cm–1.4m lateral precision in winds up to 30 knots, a multi-aircraft suppression planning engine, a compressed air foam suppression system (CAFS), a tablet-commanded mission interface for incident commanders, and integration with Alchera X Firescout AI detection cameras that trigger automated dispatch.

Rain sells primarily to U.S. government fire agencies — federal (U.S. Forest Service), state (CAL FIRE), and local (Orange County Fire Authority, San Bernardino County Fire Protection District) — with adjacent engagement from California investor-owned utilities (PG&E) and a new private operator channel (Brothers Air Support) opened in 2025. Revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed but appear to combine managed service contracts, licensing of the Rain Aircraft Integration Kit, and Sikorsky-mediated OEM distribution. The company has raised a single $9.7M seed round led by DBL Partners in September 2023, employs 11–50 people, and is pre-commercial — current engagements are demonstrations and pilot collaborations rather than recurring revenue contracts. Major milestones to date include the October 2024 Sikorsky HQ demo, the November 2024 autonomous rapid response demonstration, the April 2025 first end-to-end autonomous wildfire suppression over live fire in California, and the July 2025 first private aircraft integration with Brothers Air Support.

Name

Rain Industries

Legal name

Rain Industries

Website

https://rain.aero

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rain Industries develops autonomous wildfire suppression software that retrofits Sikorsky Black Hawk and Firehawk helicopters with AI-driven fire detection, precision targeting, and water delivery, primarily serving U.S. government fire agencies and California utilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Autonomous Wildfire Management / Aerial Firefighting Technology

NAICS

Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511)

SIC

Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812), Aircraft Parts & Auxiliary Equipment, Nec (3728)

akta.pro primary industry

Military Avionics, Mission Computers & Flight Controls (IMABAMAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Integrated Forest Health & Fire Management Planning (AFAMAEAK), Natural Disaster Preparedness & Recovery (Storm/Flood/Wildfire) (BPABANAI)

Keywords

• Autonomous wildfire suppression
• Aerial firefighting technology
• Wildfire mission autonomy
• Aircraft integration kits
• Fire detection response

Headquarters

HQ city

Alameda

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Autonomous Wildfire Suppression Services: Rain provides autonomous wildfire suppression services to government fire agencies. The company equips existing fire agency aircraft with their autonomy kit and provides mission software. Revenue likely comes from service contracts, technology licensing fees, and ongoing support/maintenance agreements.
2. Aircraft Integration Kit Licensing: Rain licenses its Aircraft Integration Kit technology to fire agencies to retrofit existing aircraft with autonomous wildfire suppression capabilities.
3. Seed Funding: The company raised $9.7 million in seed funding led by DBL Partners for development and commercialization of autonomous wildfire technology.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Rain Industries develops wildfire mission autonomy software and the Rain Aircraft Integration Kit that adapts military and civil autonomous aircraft (Sikorsky Black Hawk and Firehawk helicopters) with the intelligence to perceive, understand, and suppress wildfires autonomously. The company sells these systems to government fire agencies and supporting utilities, enabling 24/7 rapid initial attack from pre-positioned uncrewed aircraft. The offering combines proprietary fire perception, wind deviation modeling, suppression planning, and tablet-based remote command, integrated with existing early-detection camera networks.

Product overview

Rain Industries offers an autonomous wildfire management platform primarily comprising the Wildfire Mission Autonomy System (the core software) and the Rain Aircraft Integration Kit (which adds wildfire suppression intelligence to existing aircraft). The system layers onto Sikorsky's MATRIX flight autonomy to enable optionally piloted Black Hawk and Firehawk helicopters to detect, target, and suppress wildfires autonomously. Key supporting components include the Rain Tablet for ground-based command, the Suppression Engine for precision water delivery, and purpose-built testbed platforms (MK2, Mosquito) for technology demonstration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wildfire Mission Autonomy System Core autonomous wildfire suppression software system that perceives fire behavior, understands its size and direction of spread, designs suppression strategies, and navigates aircraft to deliver water or retardant on target. Sold to government fire agencies and supporting utilities for 24/7 rapid initial attack.
• Rain Aircraft Integration Kit Software and avionics kit that adapts existing military and civil autonomous aircraft (Black Hawk, Firehawk) with wildfire suppression intelligence, enabling rapid initial attack capabilities on existing firefighting fleets. Licensed to fire agencies and private operators.

Quantifiable outcome

• 15-minute reduction in wildfire response times could generate $3.5 to $8.2 billion in economic benefits annually for California
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability8 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, major, core and minor.

• Brothers Air SupportflagshipTechnology or Integration · 14 July 2025Partnership to equip Brothers Air Support's private Black Hawk helicopter with Rain's wildfire perception system. This is the first integration with a private firefighting aircraft. The partnership will collect hundreds of hours of real-world fire behavior data annually to improve Rain's autonomy models.
• Gordon and Betty Moore FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2025Foundation's Wildfire Resilience Initiative supports Rain's demonstrations in California. Kate Dargan Marquis, former California State Fire Marshal, serves as senior wildfire strategist for the foundation. Genevieve Biggs, director of the foundation's Wildfire Resilience Initiative, attended demonstrations and provided endorsements.
• Sikorsky (Lockheed Martin)coreTechnology or Integration · 4 October 2023Rain and Sikorsky collaborate to integrate Rain's wildfire mission autonomy system with Sikorsky's MATRIX flight autonomy technology on Black Hawk helicopters. The partnership enables autonomous wildfire suppression with optionally piloted aircraft that can be commanded to take off, identify fire location, and drop water. Demonstrated first end-to-end autonomous wildfire response in California over live fire in April 2025.
• Alchera XcoreTechnology or Integration · 8 September 2023Integration of Alchera X's Firescout AI smoke detection cameras with Rain's automated aircraft dispatch and routing system. This enables early fire detection to trigger autonomous aircraft dispatch, leveraging the existing 1,100+ fire detection cameras in California.
• Orange County Fire AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Rain during California flight demonstrations; participated in first fire traffic area integration tests showing autonomous and human-piloted helicopters operating together; HLCO aircraft supervised joint operations; Chief Brian Fennessy serves as FIRESCOPE Chair and endorses Rain's technology.
• San Bernardino County Fire Protection DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Rain and Sikorsky during April 2025 California demonstrations. Built and set fire to multiple brush piles for autonomous aircraft to find and suppress. Chief Dan Munsey serves as Chairperson of International Association of Fire Chiefs Technology Council.
• Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPG&E supported Rain's demonstration through EPIC (Electric Program Investment Charge) research program. The partnership explores how autonomous wildfire suppression technology can reduce response times, reduce risk of ignitions becoming catastrophic, and reduce operating costs. PG&E documented the collaboration in a wildfire safety progress film.
• Wildfire Water SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered during California flight demonstrations, providing dip site operations for helicopter water retrieval during fire traffic area integration tests.
• Green Graphite Technologies Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Rain Carbon Canada Inc. on a project to produce coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Funded by the Ontario government.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Shield AI: Defense-tech company building autonomous aircraft (Hivemind) primarily for military ISR and strike missions. Comparable as a builder of autonomy stacks for aircraft that could expand into wildfire or civil autonomy applications, with much greater capital base.
• Sikorsky (Lockheed Martin): Manufacturer of the Black Hawk and Firehawk helicopters and the MATRIX flight autonomy platform that Rain's wildfire mission autonomy integrates with. Sikorsky is a core partner but also a broad incumbent in military and commercial rotorcraft, and could choose to internalize wildfire-specific autonomy over time.
• Anduril Industries: Large defense-tech company building autonomous systems including aerial platforms (e.g., Roadrunner, Fury). Comparable as a well-capitalized incumbent in autonomous defense aviation with the resources to enter wildfire suppression if strategically motivated.

Regional players

• Bristow Group: Large helicopter operator providing aerial services including emergency response across multiple geographies. Comparable as a peer in operating and integrating advanced helicopter fleets for government customers, with potential interest in autonomous augmentation over time.

Emerging players

• Skydio: U.S. autonomous drone manufacturer with strong autonomy capabilities, used in inspection, public safety, and defense. Comparable in autonomy technology, but its small UAS platform is positioned for different use cases than Rain's large helicopter suppression missions.
• Draganfly: Drone manufacturer and services provider with public-safety and emergency-response use cases including wildfire reconnaissance. Comparable in applying drones to wildfire response, though focused on smaller-scale situational awareness rather than suppression.
• Pano AI: Wildfire early detection provider using AI-powered camera networks and active monitoring services. Comparable as a wildfire-focused technology vendor selling into utilities and government, addressing an adjacent layer of the response stack that Rain integrates with.

Direct peers

• Aero-Flite: Major aerial firefighting services operator running a large fleet of air tankers (including a converted 747) for wildfire suppression. Direct comparable as a service-provider peer that could adopt or compete with autonomous suppression technology.
• Alchera X: Provider of the Firescout AI smoke-detection camera network integrated with Rain's dispatch system. Adjacent competitor/complement in the wildfire-detection and response value chain, already a Rain partner and a credible independent alternative for early-detection infrastructure.
• Coulson Aviation: One of the world's largest aerial firefighting operators, running a fleet that includes Sikorsky S-61 and Chinook helicopters converted for fire suppression. Coulson is a direct comparable in delivering manned aerial firefighting services and a likely candidate to evaluate or compete with Rain's autonomous suppression offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@rainaero
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rain-aero
• Xx.com/rainindustries

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rain Industries