ACUA Ocean has closed its £1.5M pre-seed investment round co-led by StealthPoint and Britbots, and secured £4M in research and development grants from the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Department for Transport.
The funding will support ACUA Ocean in developing its open ocean platform Pioneer-class USV (unmanned surface vehicle), which can operate in very high sea states relative to its size, enabling systems and sensor payloads to be deployed in wave heights exceeding 4m. The prototype USV is hydrogen-powered, although there are plans for optional fuel powertrains in subsequent platforms.
Pioneer will act as a platform or ‘mothership’ providing the modular payload capacity, power, and communications necessary for the launch and recovery of technologies. This includes remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Pre-Seed Round & UK Government Backing
Led by U.S. defense and intelligence investor StealthPoint, The pre-seed round focused on strengthening national security for the U.S. and its allies, with additional investment from the UK early-stage investor in robotics and automation, BritBots.
With the investment, ACUA Ocean joins firms such as QLM Tec and Humanising Autonomy. Sixth Wave Ventures and Blue Action Accelerator also participated in the round.
The venture investment commitments add to the £4M grant funding secured by ACUA Ocean from UK government bodies, which included a successful application to the Department for Transport’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and Smart Shipping Acceleration Fund.
The £4M backing also includes a successfully completed grant from DEFRA relating to the Improving Marine Observation and Biodiversity program, a government-led scheme focused on building comprehensive solutions for data collecting, processing, and analyzing remotely in real-time.
ACUA Ocean’s approach to ‘interchangeable nested robotics’ aims to replace the need for larger, more costly crewed vessels to do dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks. This includes applications such as subsurface surveys, monitoring, and protection of critical offshore infrastructure.
Commenting on the latest investment, ACUA OCEAN Co-Founder Neil Tinmouth said, “We’re excited to be collaborating with a visionary group of venture investors who share our passion for dual-use ocean technology. The combination of the rapid growth in offshore renewables, regional geopolitical uncertainty, and threats to our marine biodiversity mean customers are increasingly seeking out vessels that can provide enhanced open ocean capabilities like the Pioneer.”
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