Seneca
Sausalito, California maker of autonomous foam-dropping drone swarms for wildfire attack; launched in 2025 with USD 60M in venture funding.
Seneca is a Sausalito, California company that builds autonomous aerial systems for wildfire suppression and the software that launches them. Its legal entity is Amor Fati Industries Inc. The company works with fire agencies, utilities, real estate developers, homeowner associations and commercial property owners, and states that its systems are designed, built and sourced in the United States. Its stated mission is to eliminate wildfire threat across 500 million acres in the US and allied nations, with a focus on initial attack and support for prescribed fire.
The product is sold as a Seneca Strike Team, a swarm of four to six hand-liftable aircraft that together deliver 500 to 1,000 pounds of suppressant per trip. Each aircraft carries enough water to make more than 50 gallons of finished Class A foam, which it discharges as aerated foam at more than 100 PSI, aiming for precise targets with wind accounted for. Onboard infrared fire detection, camera cues and AI models let the aircraft locate and fly to a fire from hundreds of feet away, with autonomous obstacle avoidance and ADS-B and Remote ID alerting to deconflict from manned aircraft. Missions are launched from a tablet app, even without a precise fire location, and a single pilot can supervise multiple craft. The aircraft can be hand-carried, moved by utility vehicle or stationed at high-risk sites, need no helipad, mechanic or refuelling station, and are refillable in the field. Listed uses include initial attack in inaccessible terrain, structure protection, spot fires, mop-up, night operations, pile and prescribed burns, hazmat and utility safety.
In October 2025 Seneca launched with 60 million US dollars of venture financing led by Caffeinated Capital and Convective Capital, with First Round Capital, Transition VC, Advance Venture Partners, NextView Ventures, Bullpen Capital, StepStone Group, DCVC, Offline Ventures, Roar Capital, Good Friends, Slow Ventures and MHS Capital participating. Stuart Landesberg is founder and chief executive and Nick Foley is co-founder and vice president of hardware. Advisers include former US Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, Watch Duty chief executive John Mills, former Aspen fire chief Rick Balentine and former CAL FIRE flight operations chief Stu Sprung.
The system was demonstrated on live fire and with agencies in four states before launch. In February 2026 Aspen Fire Protection District in Colorado signed a five-year, multi-million-dollar contract for a five-aircraft Strike Team, after working with Seneca on development for more than a year, with deployment in Aspen planned for summer 2026. In 2026 Ouster agreed to integrate its Rev8 OS1 Max digital LiDAR into Seneca aircraft to improve 3D mapping and navigation in smoke and low visibility.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
Seneca Strike Team
- Launch Year: 2026
Swarm of 4-6 autonomous aircraft that find wildfires by infrared and attack them with aerated Class A foam.
More related news
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
-
10
IMTS 2026 Preview: Record Orders and the Automation Story RobotToday · Sep 14, 2026
-
11
WRC 2026 Robot Systems: 149 Companies That Build Robots RobotToday · Aug 27, 2026
-
12
WRC 2026 Exhibitor Map: 248 Robotics Companies Mapped RobotToday · Aug 26, 2026
-
13
ROBOTTODAY Weekly July 13 – 17, 2026 RobotToday · Jul 18, 2026
-
14
Physical AI Landscape: From Digital Intelligence to the Embodied Physical World RobotToday · Jul 10, 2026
-
15
Automate 2026 | Amprius SiCore SA88 Competes for Innovation Award in Robotics Battery Category RobotToday · Jun 29, 2026
-
16
Vietnam Robotics Industry Report 2026 RobotToday · Jun 09, 2026
- 17
-
18
RobotToday Weekly Industry Briefing: Feb 2 – 6, 2026 RobotToday · Feb 07, 2026
-
19
Sunny t2000 china s first 2 ton turboprop cargo uav signals a new era for heavy unmanned logistics RobotToday · Jan 12, 2026
- 20
Contact Seneca
WEBSITE
https://seneca.comHEADQUARTERS
United States
Company Facts
Founded
-
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
-
Primary Region
North America
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
Early-Stage VC
Funding Total
$ 60,000,000
Keywords
- Seneca
- Amor Fati Industries Inc. (legal entity)
- wildfire suppression
- firefighting drone
- class a foam
- drone swarm
- initial attack
- infrared fire detection
- prescribed burns
- fire agencies
- utility wildfire mitigation
- Manufacturer
- Software/Algorithm
- Drone/eVTOL
- Perception & Vision
- Defense & Security
- Oil
- Gas & Energy
