Nova

Transforming aerial data into actionable insights for firefighters

The Problem

Wildfire management often relies on fragmented, outdated data sources, leading to delayed response and inefficient resource allocation. Inadequate, slow data significantly hinders real time situational awareness, increasing the risk of undetected hotspots that can reignite and escalate into large-scale fires.

Notable cases include the 2022 Cerro Pelado Fire and the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in New Mexico, which, despite initial containment efforts, reignited to burn over 400,000 acres and destroy nearly 1,000 structures. These fires alone released up to 5 million tons—equivalent to the yearly emissions of millions of cars.

The Solution

Delivering cutting-edge, real-time AI geospatial analysis to enhance wildfire and emergency response efforts.

Nova offers the first real-time mapping solution to address wildfire management’s critical data and response gaps, providing fire teams with accurate, immediate data for rapid, well-informed decisions. Nova’s platform leverages infrared scanning and sophisticated machine learning models to pinpoint hotspots and residual heat sources in real time, enabling fire management teams to detect potential reignitions early and act swiftly to prevent uncontrolled fire growth.

NorthX’s funding will support development of Nova’s proprietary photogrammetry engine “Stitch,” powered by the Terrain Agnostic Pose Estimation (TAPE) algorithm. Stitch rapidly processes geospatial data, bypassing traditional, time-consuming calculations, enabling fire teams to receive critical data in near real-time.

“Bringing production-ready, market-ready technology is challenging and expensive. This opportunity through NorthX adds resilience for local companies like ours to pursue costly R&D and is helping us reach product-market fit faster.”
ROBERT ATWOOD, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, NOVA

The B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is now NorthX