Blue Water Autonomy announces USD50 million funding raise

An artistic impression of Blue Water Autonomy's autonomous naval ship concept. (Blue Water Autonomy)

Blue Water Autonomy has obtained USD50 million in Series A funding as it pushes to build its first prototype autonomous ship, according to a company statement on 26 August. The funding round was led by Google Ventures (GV) and included all the investors that participated in its USD14 million seed funding round that was announced in April this year.

As part of the milestone, GV managing partner Dave Munichiello joined Blue Water Autonomy's board of directors, the statement said.

The funding will enable the company to “build and deploy its first long-range, full-sized autonomous ship” in 2026, according to the statement.

Blue Water Autonomy noted that since the seed round, “the team has quadrupled in size, completed successful on-water engineering tests, and started acquiring long lead material from more than 50 selected suppliers”.

“There is an urgent need for autonomous ships designed specifically for maritime security and logistics. This funding gives our team the resources to build long-range autonomous ships from the keel up that will operate on the open ocean for months at a time,” Rylan Hamilton, CEO for Blue Water Autonomy, said in the statement.

“Future unmanned ships must be producible, affordable platforms that can deliver varied payloads, while complementing and supporting the advanced capabilities of traditional naval assets,” according to the statement, which noted that Blue Water Autonomy also sees opportunity for such vessels in the commercial market.

Blue Water Autonomy had not responded to Janes queries at the time for publication.

For more information, please seeSpecial Report: Blue Water Autonomy aims to build unmanned ships for US Navy .