Dryad Wins International XPRIZE Wildfire Award for Autonomous Wildfire Detection and Suppression

Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.HomeBusiness Wire News ReleasesPMN Press ReleasesThis section is The content in this section is supplied by Business Wire for the purposes of distributing press releases on behalf of its clients. Postmedia has not reviewed the content. by Business Wire Dryad Wins International XPRIZE Wildfire Award for Autonomous Wildfire Detection and SuppressionAuthor of the article: Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountEuropean finalist demonstrates ultra-early wildfire detection with Silvanet and autonomous suppression with SilvaguardBERLIN — Dryad Networks, a leader in ultra-early wildfire detection, today announced it has been awarded $800,000 in the XPRIZE Wildfire competition for its performance in the Autonomous Wildfire Response finals in Alaska.Dryad Wins International XPRIZE Wildfire Award for Autonomous Wildfire Detection and SuppressionDryad advanced from an original field of approximately 300 entrants in the four-year competition. In June 2026, three finalists were challenged to autonomously detect and completely suppress a high-risk wildfire within 10 minutes of ignition across 1,000 km² of Alaskan wilderness, leaving any decoy fires untouched. It was the most demanding live test to date of what it will take to stop a destructive fire before it grows out of control.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againDuring the tests, the Dryad’s Silvanet sensor network successfully detected and verified target fire in 12 minutes or less and autonomously launched a response, ignoring any decoy fires. The autonomous Silvaguard Observation Drone provided situational awareness and the Suppression Drone accurately hit the fire with suppressant – providing a strong proof of concept for the competition end goal.The XPRIZE Wildfire Judging Panel awarded $2.5 million across three Track B Finalist teams, recognizing distinct breakthroughs across the autonomous wildfire response cycle. Together, this demonstrates meaningful advances toward the competition’s ambitious goal and provided a clearer picture of what is possible today — and where further innovation is still needed.With the award, XPRIZE recognized in particular Dryad’s 170-sensor persistent Silvanet field network combined with Silvaguard drones for demonstrating end-to-end autonomy. “This award is a tremendous external validation of our technology and vision,” said Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO and Co-Founder of Dryad Networks. “Our vision is fully aligned with XPRIZE Wildfire: detect and extinguish fires within 10 minutes of ignition. To achieve this, fires must be detected within minutes, ideally during the smoldering phase before open flames appear and spread rapidly.”“Ultra-early detection is a prerequisite for autonomous suppression. Drones can suppress a small ignition, but their limited payload makes them largely ineffective once a wildfire has grown out of control. Silvanet detects the fire when it is still tiny, and Silvaguard can verify, locate and suppress it autonomously.”uses solar-powered, AI-enabled gas sensors as an “electronic nose” to detect wildfire signatures within minutes of ignition. Its solar-powered mesh network enables sensors to communicate deep inside forests, off-grid and independently of mobile networks. The fully industrialized system has more than 40,000 sensors manufactured, including recent deliveries of10,000 sensors to France and more than 7,000 to Italyextends Silvanet from detection to autonomous response. When a sensor triggers an alert, a Silvaguard Observation Drone autonomously launches, verifies and precisely geolocates the fire using infrared and optical cameras. A Suppression Drone then deploys up to100 liters of suppressanton the fire. Both operate autonomously with no human operator in the loop and are designed to be stationed in forests in solar-powered protective hangars, continuously charged and ready to respond.Dryad will now invest significantly in productizing Silvaguard, with real-world operational pilots planned for 2027 and commercial availability targeted for 2028.“Wildfires are a race against time,” Brinkschulte concluded. “Instead of building bigger machines to fight bigger fires, our goal is to prevent fires from becoming big in the first place. XPRIZE has provided powerful validation that autonomous wildfire response can make that vision a reality.”For XPRIZE, the end of the competition is not the end of the work. XPRIZE Wildfire will move into an Impact Phase focused on helping translate promising technologies into durable, deployable solutions for real-world wildfire management.About XPRIZEXPRIZE is the recognized global leader in designing and executing large-scale competitions to solve humanity’s greatest challenges. For over 30 years, our unique model has democratized crowd-sourced innovation and scientifically scalable solutions that accelerate a more equitable and abundant future. Donate, learn more, and co-architect a world of abundance with us at xprize.org. More info: https://www.xprize.org/wildfireAbout Dryad Networks Dryad Networks mission is to detect wildfires in their earliest stages and enable autonomous suppression before they become catastrophic. Dryad’s solutions protect forests, communities, critical infrastructure, and the climate from the growing threat of wildfires.View source version on businesswire.com: This advertisement has not loaded yet.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.