ExFire is a student-led innovation focused on one urgent problem: How to protect the world’s most vulnerable homes from fire?
We believe fire safety should not depend on response time, access to infrastructure, or the presence of trained professionals.
It should be built directly into the walls that people live within.
Across dense urban settlements and low-income communities, fire is not an accident.
It is a recurring crisis. A small spark becomes a fast-moving inferno. Families lose homes, livelihoods vanish, and children grow up without the stability every human being deserves.
ExFire exists to break that cycle.
Why We Built ExFire
The idea for ExFire did not begin in a lab. It began in the field.
While working with communities in fire-prone, low-income settlements through Shakti Foundation, we encountered children from waste-picker families whose homes had been destroyed by fire repeatedly.
We witnessed the same pattern repeat itself:
a small spark, a fast-moving fire, homes lost within minutes, families displaced for months or years.
We saw firsthand how existing fire-fighting systems fail in the environments that need protection the most.
What stayed with us was not just the loss of property, but the loss of safety, dignity, and opportunity.
That experience shaped everything that followed.
PLAYER EXPERIENCE FIRST
We believe our laser focus on players inspires the most meaningful and lasting game experiences.
DARE TO DREAM
We believe the courage to chase bold ideas will make impossible dreams come true for players.
THRIVE TOGETHER
We believe we’re stronger when we respect each other, invest in each other, and succeed as one team.
EXECUTE WITH EXCELLENCE
We believe operational excellence will unlock us to deliver better experiences for the long run.
Our Approach
Instead of relying on external systems, we embed fire protection directly inside construction materials.
Instead of adding complexity, we design for simplicity, autonomy, and resilience.
Our goal is not just to stop fires. It is to restore safety, dignity, and stability to communities that are too often left unprotected.
Our Approach
Instead of relying on external systems, we embed fire protection directly inside construction materials.
Instead of adding complexity, we design for simplicity, autonomy, and resilience.
Our goal is not just to stop fires. It is to restore safety, dignity, and stability to communities that are too often left unprotected.
Meet the Minds Behind the Innovation
ExFire is co-created by siblings Anhad Kashyap and Zehn Kashyap, who bring together deep technical expertise and social impact leadership.
Anhad Kashyap
Lead Technologist
Anhad is a technology innovator focused on designing scalable, real-world solutions. His work spans AI, machine learning, data science, robotics, and advanced hardware prototyping, supported by strong foundations in programming and mechatronics.
He has already developed two patented AI-based innovations in assistive technology and mechatronics and leads ExFire’s system architecture, prototyping, and engineering development.
Zehn Kashyap
Strategy, Inclusion & Impact
Zehn is a Diana Award recipient, an internationally published author, an award winning speaker and a disability advocate who brings expertise in inclusive design, and social mobilisation along with a global network of changemakers. She drives ExFire’s research, community engagement, inclusion strategy, and impact framework, ensuring that the technology remains grounded in the real needs of the people it is meant to serve.
Her work bridges innovation with accessibility, equity, and long-term social transformation.
What We Believe
We believe safety should not depend on response time.
It should be built into the structure of everyday life.
We believe that innovation must serve those who are most often ignored by it.
And we believe that every brick has the potential to become a silent guardian.
Our Vision
To transform fire-vulnerable communities into fire-resilient ones —
by embedding autonomous, maintenance-free fire protection directly into affordable housing.
Not as a luxury.
Not as an add-on.
But as a fundamental right.
Those Who Helped Shape ExFire
This work is supported by the mentorship of Dr. Mohan, PhD (Duke University, Pratt School of Engineering), whose expertise in deep tech — particularly in robotics, computer vision, and artificial intelligence — played a critical role in ExFire’s CAD development and prototype testing.
We are deeply grateful to the families, children, and field partners who trusted us with their stories, and to the open-source Fusion 360 community whose tools helped bring this system to life.