January 29, 2026 — Oakland, California — Conservation X Labs (CXL) has announced the three winning teams of the Fire Grand Challenge, a global competition designed to advance practical tools and approaches for wildfire mitigation, response, and landscape recovery. Selected from a worldwide cohort of finalist teams, the winners will share a $200,000 prize purse to support continued development and scaling.
Launched in 2025, the Fire Grand Challenge received 92 technical applications and over 50 place-based community applications, representing 20 countries. Twelve finalist teams advanced, each pairing a technical innovator with a local community partner, to validate solutions grounded in both leading-edge technology and place-based knowledge.
Each finalist team received a $50,000 field-testing grant, and for nine months they have worked alongside land managers, fire experts, and local partners to demonstrate their solutions through controlled burns, flight trials, and rigorous technical assessments. Field tests spanned fire-prone landscapes, from the forests of British Columbia to the dry ecosystems of Chiapas, Mexico.
The winners are:
• Grand Prize Winner: Vibrant Planet Data Commons (Colorado, USA) & The Kalispel Tribe of Indians (Washington, USA) – An AI-powered decision support tool to assist community planning for fire mitigation and restoration, developed through deep collaboration and engagement with Tribal Nations.
• Runner-Up: International Savanna Fire Management Initiative (Victoria, AUS) & BIOMASA AC (Chiapas, MEX) – A process called Emissions Reduction Traditional Fire Management (ERTFM) that implements early dry season burns. The process utilizes geospatial information systems (GIS) and local knowledge to prevent destructive burns in the late dry season.
• Runner-Up: Flash Forest Inc. (Ontario, CAN) & Grand County Wildfire Council (Colorado, USA) – Forest regeneration technology guided by AI software that uses drones to distribute seed pods for replanting.
Winners were announced at the Solutions Summit, the Challenge’s culminating event at the Oakland Museum of California, which convened leaders in wildfire management and technology to learn results from the field and discuss pathways to deployments at scale.
The Fire Grand Challenge is made possible through a global partner coalition including the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Esri, and Planet, among many others.
For more information about the Fire Grand Challenge and the winning teams, visit www.conservationxlabs.com.
—
About Conservation X Labs
Conservation X Labs (CXL) operates at the intersection of biodiversity, technology and innovation to drive groundbreaking solutions to prevent the sixth mass extinction. By deploying cutting-edge technology, convening communities of interdisciplinary brilliance, and leveraging the power of the marketplace, CXL is uniquely positioned to boldly confront the planet’s most pressing challenges.
