A brand new ship-building startup referred to as Blue Water Autonomy has emerged from stealth with the promise of creating captain-less naval ships.
The Boston, Massachusetts-based firm has raised a $14 million seed spherical from Eclipse VC, Riot, and Impatient Ventures. The startup was based in 2024 by former members of the U.S. Navy, leaders of Amazon Robotics, and iRobot.
Blue Water Autonomy joins an ever-growing listing of startups which might be profiting from a splurge in protection funding. Protection tech funding set a brand new document in 2024, led by Anduril’s $1.5 billion Sequence F spherical and Saronic — one other autonomous maritime startup that notched a $175 million Sequence B.
The startup says it has developed a full-stack autonomy suite and idea ship designs in “beneath a yr.” It’s already salt-water testing a 100-ton autonomous take a look at vessel simply exterior of Boston, a spokesperson for the corporate instructed TechCrunch.
The seed funding will assist Blue Water Autonomy develop its engineering crew and speed up testing, in keeping with a release.
“No different firm is tackling this drawback on the ship degree like Blue Water,” Seth Winterroth, a associate at Eclipse, stated in a press release. “The crew is a uncommon mixture of roboticists and Navy veterans that positions them to be a vital associate to the Navy, your entire Division of Protection, and may have a serious affect on the maritime trade.”