Exclusive: Torch Systems raises $11.5M for grid monitoring

The latest: Torch Systems raised $9.5 million in equity funding via SAFE notes from Khosla Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Construct Capital and Starship Ventures.

• It also closed $2 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank.

Flashback: Axios Pro first reported last year that Torch Systems, then called Torch Sensors, was raising up to $10 million.

• The Lafayette, California-based company previously raised about $2 million.

Zoom in: Torch Systems has expanded from being a "smoke detector for the outdoors," Tremsin says, to one that also monitors for overheating equipment, encroaching vegetation, weather, humidity and air quality.

How it works: It chiefly works with utilities and municipalities, charging them an annual fee.

• It's deployed 300 TerraNode units in seven states, with another 800 backordered, Tremsin says.

What's next: It expects profitability "within 2027," Tremsin tells Axios Pro.