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What Is Torch?
Torch's mission is to protect utilities, cities, and our planet
We’re reimagining remote monitoring for outdoor assets.
Founding team
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Vasya
Chief Executive Officer
Vasya began building award-winning detection systems at 15 – starting with sound direction sensors, then tools for drought and wildfire monitoring. He won top honors at the Intel International Science Fair out of 1,800+ global competitors, and NASA named an asteroid after him. A cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and UC Berkeley, Vasya later worked at Microsoft and Visa before founding Torch to deliver remote monitoring for outdoor utility assets.
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Anton
Chief Technical Officer
Anton has spent over three decades at UC Berkeley conducting advanced scientific research, authoring 300+ peer-reviewed publications. He's deployed sensors all over the world and in space, from Stanford University to the Hamburg Airbus assembly plant, to the Hubble Space Telescope. Anton brings deep technical expertise and a lifelong commitment to innovation, guiding Torch’s engineering from foundational research to product development.
How we got here
As a Bay Area resident, Vasya witnessed the horrific 2017 Napa Valley fires burn entire communities down to the ground. For weeks, hazy smoke lingered in the sky. Vasya was struck with the realization: ~“Why isn’t there a mainstream solution to detect outdoor fires quickly and accurately?”~
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This is when Torch’s revolutionary concept was born: ~Using multiple sensors in one solar-powered device – to recognize outdoor fires early~. Vasya demonstrated this concept at Intel’s International Science Fair, winning the top award. Judges passionately encouraged Vasya to turn his project into a real fire detection product which could help mitigate the fire crisis.
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2020 brought a new wave of wildfires in California, turning San Francisco skies orange for weeks. ~An intensive period of R&D~ was already underway for Torch.
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After years of development, the Torch team began demonstrating ultra-early fire detection in action at ~live fire demos.~ The feedback from anyone seeing a detection demo for the first time has been extremely positive.
The Torch team travelled to Los Angeles during the historic 2025 wildfires, helping rangers and first responders detect potential re-ignitions and ember fires. ~Torch devices are still deployed and active around Los Angeles County.~
