For more than sixty years, the basic tools of firefighting—the nozzle, the hose, and the valve—have remained largely stagnant. While the world around us has been transformed by the digital revolution, the brave individuals running into burning buildings have relied on technology that would look familiar to a firefighter from the mid-20th century.
However, a Hayward-based startup called HEN Technologies is changing that narrative. By combining advanced fluid dynamics with cutting-edge AI, HEN is proving that the future of fire suppression isn't just about more water—it's about smarter water.
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| Sunny Sethi of HEN |
The story of HEN Technologies began with a personal realization. In 2019, founder Sunny Sethi, a Ph.D. specializing in surfaces and adhesion, watched from afar as his family faced evacuation warnings during the California wildfires. Despite his background in high-tech fields like nanotechnology and semiconductors, Sethi realized that the tools being used to protect his home were woefully outdated.
Launched in 2020, HEN (which grew out of Sethi’s previous firm, ADAP Nanotech) set out to apply modern engineering to the physics of fire. Supported by the National Science Foundation, the company moved beyond traditional "trial and error" design, using computational fluid dynamics to rethink how water interacts with heat.
The "Blade" Nozzle
The centerpiece of HEN’s current success is the Blade nozzle. In an industry where "more is better," HEN has proven that "precision is better."
Traditional nozzles often produce inconsistent droplet sizes, leading to wasted water and inefficient cooling. HEN’s patented technology allows for precise control over droplet size and velocity. The results are staggering:
300% Increase in Efficiency: Fires are extinguished up to three times faster than with standard equipment.
67% Reduction in Water Usage: By making every drop count, departments can preserve limited water supplies, which is critical in rural areas or during massive wildfires.
This hardware—including the Titan and Elite product lines—has already seen rapid adoption. Today, HEN serves over 1,500 fire departments and high-stakes clients like NASA, the U.S. Army, and Abu Dhabi Civil Defense.
Turning Nozzles into Sensors
While the hardware is impressive, the true disruption lies in what Sethi calls the "AI Gold Mine." Every piece of HEN equipment, from valves to nozzles, is becoming a data-collection node. Equipped with custom circuit boards and sensors powered by Nvidia processors, these devices track real-world physics data that has never been captured before: flow rates, pressure fluctuations, and exact activation times.
By 2027, HEN plans to fully commercialize an AI application layer. This platform will ingest the proprietary physics data collected by its hardware and cross-reference it with GPS and weather patterns. The goal is to move from reactive firefighting to predictive suppression—allowing commanders to see exactly where resources are most effective and how a fire is likely to behave in real-time.
Scaling the Impact
The market's response to HEN’s vision has been explosive. The company’s revenue jumped from $200,000 in 2023 to over $5 million in 2025, with projections hitting $20 million for 2026. A recent $20 million Series A funding round, led by O’Neil Capital Management, has provided the fuel needed to scale their workforce—which includes veterans from Tesla, Apple, and Microsoft—and expand their global reach to 22 countries.
The Future of Firefighting
The "Future of Firefighting" is no longer a distant concept involving sci-fi robots; it is happening right now through the intelligent application of physics and data. By modernizing the fundamental tools of the trade, HEN Technologies is providing a smarter, safer way to protect communities in an era of increasingly volatile climate challenges.
As firefighting transitions from a manual labor industry to a data-driven science, HEN Technologies stands at the forefront, proving that when it comes to saving lives, the best weapon is intelligence.