Seconds Save Lives: UF Alumni Startup Wins $1 Million Prize for AI Disaster Response

A Gainesville-based startup founded by University of Florida alumni is one of four winners of Verizon’s $1 million Disaster Resilience Prize.

FNN has gained national recognition for its use of artificial intelligence to improve disaster response time and grid resilience. The organization leverages artificial intelligence with UF’s supercomputer, HiPerGator, to reduce the time it takes to identify a devastating wildfire from 24 hours to 40 seconds.

FNN’s lightning sensors and three other technologies were selected from more than 200 applications. The prize recognizes innovative technologies that strengthen communities’ ability to prepare and respond to natural disasters.

A man holding up a white High-Risk Lightning detection sensor while outside.

The funding will support scaling FNN’s network of sensors and advancing deployment across regions vulnerable to wildfires. With this investment, FNN can grow faster, operate more efficiently and ultimately protect more lives, amplifying FNN’s impact

FNN’s technology uses AI models trained on HiPerGator to analyze environmental and lightning data in real time to identify long-duration strikes capable of causing wildfires or power outages. Traditionally, this would take a few days, however with HiPerGator, it takes seconds.

“It's really been a game changer in how we're able to process data,” said Caroline Comeau, the Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of FNN. "In the matter of seconds, we’re able to alert firefighters, forestry and utility companies, enabling them to make critical operational decisions.”

FNN also developed a smoke detection sensor using HiPerGator to analyze camera feeds for smoke and fog, triggering warning alerts for response. HiPerGator, powered by NVIDIA DGX B200 systems, was recently ranked No. 1 fastest supercomputer in U.S. higher education by multiple industry-standard benchmarks.

The company is closely tied to UF Innovate, a comprehensive commercialization and innovation hub at UF. This collaboration has enabled rapid data processing, which is essential in fast-moving wildfire scenarios. FNN has also worked alongside industry leaders, including NVIDIA, combining academic research with UF’s cutting-edge computing power.

As climate disasters become more severe, innovators like FNN’s demonstrate how technology can deliver timely, life-saving solutions on a larger scale.