Why HEN is pairing firefighting tools with live data

HEN expands from nozzle design into incident data

HEN Technologies has developed a firefighting platform that links connected field equipment with cloud-based incident monitoring as it expands beyond its original nozzle design work.

TechCrunch reported that the company, founded in 2020 by Sunny Sethi in Hayward, California, began by designing fire nozzles intended to use water more efficiently and extinguish fires up to three times faster than traditional equipment while using less water.

HEN said its nozzle design followed computational fluid dynamics research funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, which examined how water suppresses fire and how wind affects suppression performance.

The design allows control of droplet size and water velocity, which helps streams stay coherent in windy conditions and improves suppression efficiency.

The company has since added monitors, valves, overhead sprinklers and pressure devices, and it is developing a flow-control device called Stream IQ alongside discharge control systems.

Each device includes custom electronics and sensors that support connected monitoring and data collection during firefighting operations.

The company has filed 20 patent applications related to the technology, with several patents already granted.

Sethi said: “But you can’t have [predictive analytics] unless you have good-quality data.

“You can’t have good-quality data unless you have the right hardware.”

HEN reports commercial growth and wider deployment

TechCrunch said the wider platform tracks water flow, hydrant usage, pressure levels and environmental conditions during incidents, and it also integrates weather data with GPS information from connected equipment.

The system can issue alerts linked to shifting wind conditions or water supply limitations during an incident.

HEN launched its first commercial products in 2023 with 10 fire department customers and about $200,000 in revenue.

Revenue rose to $1.6 million in 2024 and reached $5.2 million the following year.

The company now serves around 1,500 fire departments and projects revenue of $20 million in the current year.

Its equipment is supplied to organisations including the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army bases, naval research facilities, NASA and Abu Dhabi Civil Defense.

HEN distributes through more than 120 distributors and exports to 22 countries.

The company also qualified for inclusion in the U.S. General Services Administration procurement system, which allows federal agencies to buy its equipment through approved contracting channels.

Sethi said: “The hardest part of building this company is that this market is tough because it’s a B2C play when you think of convincing the customers to buy, but the procurement cycle is B2B.

“So you have to really make a product that resonates with people — with the end user — but you still have to go through government purchasing cycles, and we have cracked both of those.”

In January 2026, HEN announced a $20 million Series A funding round alongside $2 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank.

The round was led by O’Neil Strategic Capital with participation from NSFO, Tanas Capital and z21 Ventures.

Its total funding now exceeds $30 million as the company continues building its operational dataset on water behaviour in live fire environments.