Eclipse backs Blue Water Autonomy with $50M Series A

Blue Water Autonomy has raised $50 million in a Series A funding round led by GV (Google Ventures) to develop unmanned ships for the US Navy. The funding will help Blue Water Autonomy construct and deploy its first long-range, full-sized autonomous ship next year. CEO Rylan Hamilton said the company is focused on building ships that are producible, affordable, and adaptable to a range of missions. Dave Munichiello from GV, who has joined Blue Water's Board of Directors, highlighted the strategic importance of autonomous maritime defense. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e44MxZdb 📰 Subscribe to the weekly Robotics Brief Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eGiCpMzH #ai #artificialintelligence #ainews #aifunding

Blue Water Autonomy has secured $50 million in Series A funding led by GV (Google Ventures), with participation from Eclipse Ventures, Riot, and Impatient Ventures. The company, led by CEO and cofounder Rylan Hamilton, is developing unmanned ships for the U.S. Navy. Allie Garfinkle | Fortune https://lnkd.in/eX9JWCSD #defensetechnology #defensetech

🛥️ Portfolio Spotlight: Saronic Technologies Saronic is building the autonomous surface navy for the 21st century. From reconnaissance to logistics and maritime defense, their fleet of modular, AI-native vessels is reshaping how autonomy operates in contested, complex environments. What makes them stand out: 🚢 Purpose-built autonomy: Not retrofits, but full-stack robotic ships like Corsair, Spyglass, and Cutlass, designed from scratch. ⚙️ MOSA architecture: Modular hardware + software integrations enable rapid payload swaps and agile mission iteration. 🏗️ Industrial ambition: Saronic isn’t just prototyping. It acquired a shipyard and is building Port Alpha, the first defense-focused ASV production facility. 🌊 Scalable deterrence: From grey zone to blue water, their vessels are redefining persistence, coverage, and cost in naval operations. At Aera Capital, we invest in companies building frontier infrastructure, and Saronic is doing that at maritime scale. The next decade of defense will be characterized by unmanned, autonomous, and software-defined systems. Saronic is already underway. #Saronic #DefenseTech #Autonomy #FrontierTech #AeraCapital #MaritimeInfrastructure #UnmannedSystems #DeepTech #PortfolioSpotlight

Boston-based Blue Water Autonomy has announced a $50 million Series A to strengthen U.S. maritime power with autonomous, unmanned ships. Blue Water Autonomy is a technology and shipbuilding company designing and building highly producible, next-generation unmanned ships for the U.S. Navy. These large, long-range autonomous vessels are designed to operate on the open ocean for months at a time, carrying significant payloads for maritime security and logistics. The company's laser-focus on a single platform class is intended to ensure unmatched quality and speed to market. The round was led by GV (Google Ventures), with all existing investors, Eclipse, Riot, and Impatient Ventures, participating. This brings total funding to $64M. With this funding, Blue Water Autonomy will build and deploy its first full-sized autonomous ship next year. Congratulations to CEO Rylan Hamilton and the Blue Water Autonomy team. PR Newswire: https://lnkd.in/d4aMsEjN #Autonomy #DefenseTech #Maritime #Robotics #AI #NationalSecurity #Funding #SeriesA

Big news in the shipbuilding world. 🌊🚢 This week, HII unveiled Romulus 190: a 190-ft AI-enabled unmanned surface vessel. Before that, Saronic Technologies announced the Marauder: its first 150-ft autonomous surface vessel, in production at their new Louisiana shipyard. We also had Boston startup Blue Water Autonomy raised $50M to launch its own 150 ft ASV by next year. In short, the race is on. ⏳ At Path Robotics, we believe the shipbuilders who best leverage AI, intelligently scale manufacturing, and deploy the fastest will lead. We’re working to help shipbuilders do exactly that. ⚡ 👉 What do you think will be the biggest factor that decides who wins this race? #AI #Autonomy #Shipbuilding #Defense #Manufacturing #Navy #Maritime #HII #Saronic #MIB #RebuildTheFleet #USA #Automation #Welding

Back in July, Northrop Grumman announced that it had selected six defense tech companies as initial partners for its Beacon program, an open-access testbed ecosystem designed to accelerate autonomous flight software development using Northrop's hardware and software capabilities. The goal is to enhance both innovation and competition: Beacon is explicitly intended to promote “new competition,” bringing in companies of different sizes and expertise. That broadens the innovation base, potentially leading to breakthroughs or novel approaches that Northrop alone might not discover Maybe more importantly, governments (especially in defense) are increasingly demanding autonomy, resilience, and interoperability. Facilitating R&D in this space helps Northrop stay ahead in bidding for contracts and meeting future force-structure needs. Partnering with startups is a way to tap into this innovation faster. The defense tech space is hot right now. In the market map below, we identify 247 companies building AI solutions across 21 defense tech categories covering everything from unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to geospatial intelligence (GEOINT)

🤖 Big win for Scout AI! They've been awarded a $2,000,000 contract by the Department of Defense, through the Department of the Army. This funding will support the development of an autonomous ground vehicle system, integrating vision language models and retrieval augmented generation technologies. The goal? Deliver mission-complete solutions, starting with counter-unmanned aerial systems operations. 🛠️ This initiative is part of the Small Business Innovation Research Program Phase II, focusing on applied research. The project will run for 24 months, kicking off in April 2025 and wrapping up in April 2027. Kudos to Scout AI for pushing the boundaries of technology! #SBIR #STTR #AutonomousVehicles #DefenseInnovation

If you thought the defense tech world on this side of the pond comes to a standstill during DSEI, think again. This morning, integration startup Picogrid announced a $3.2M Air Force contract win to bring their Legion software and Helios hardware to help the Air Force’s growing number of autonomous systems play nice. https://lnkd.in/epQxrbnD

Defense is changing in real time. The big players like Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics are still leading, while drone makers, AI startups, and robotics firms are quickly climbing the ranks. Defense revenues hit $661 billion in 2024 (up 11% year over year) mirroring a global surge with military spending topping $2.7 trillion. The story here is growth and how quickly innovation is changing the balance. Companies that bring flexibility and AI-driven systems to the table are finding new ways to compete with traditional giants. For anyone watching the sector, the lesson is clear: staying relevant means leaning into autonomy, data, and next-gen tech as much as scale. #DefenseTech #AI #AutonomousSystems #StrategicInnovation

Top 5 defense Tech startups in Texas (In regards to ARR) let’s talk about it 1. Saronic Technologies (Austin, TX) • What they do: Develops autonomous surface vessels (drones/ASVs) for naval use—combining hardware, AI, and maritime autonomy to support defense missions. • Why they’re top-tier: • Founded in 2022 and quickly raised substantial capital—Series C in February 2025 totaling $600 million, bringing its valuation to $4 billion. • Built out a massive 420,000 ft² production facility in Austin to scale operations. ⸻ 2. Shield AI (Plano, TX, with national presence) • What they do: Creates autonomous UAS (drones) powered by AI—like the V-BAT—for military and defense applications. • Why they’re prominent: • Valuation has soared from $2.3 billion (June 2022) to $2.7 billion (October 2023) after a $200 million funding round. • Deep DoD alignment, including major Air Force contracts and involvement in JADC2. ⸻ 3. CesiumAstro (Austin, TX) • What they do: Designs plug-and-play phased-array antennas and communications systems for satellites—dual-use solutions for commercial and defense. • Why they’re notable: • Raised $65 million in a Series B+ round (June 2024). • Growing reputation in space communication among defense stakeholders. ⸻ 4. Apptronik (Austin, TX) • What they do: Builds human-centered robotic systems—which serve manufacturing, automotive, logistics, and defense use-cases. • Why they’re significant: • Among the best-funded military startups in Austin, with $393.7 million raised in funding. ⸻ 5. Slingshot Aerospace (Austin, TX) • What they do: Provides space data, analytics, and simulation for mission-essential clarity—enhancing operators’ real-time situational awareness. • Why they stand out: • Ranked among top military startups in Austin, with $118.9 million in funding.