This latest close includes follow-on investments by the Brunswick Corporation and their investment partner TechNexus, Toyota AI Ventures and NextGen Venture Partners. Sea Machines also welcomes a new investor, Dolby Family Ventures of San Francisco.

“We set the goals for this round in March and with this now accomplished we find ourselves in a great position to focus on execution and scaling by growing our team, expanding our product sales and furthering our advanced technology,” said CEO Michael G. Johnson, Sea Machines. “Market adoption of our autonomous and remote command products is well underway and over the next year we will be delivering new cutting-edge technical features, including computer vision for domain sensing and advancements in decision support.”

Sea Machines’ autonomous systems serve the modern mariner. They markedly increase productivity of vessel operations by assuming active domain perception and navigation duties. A Sea Machines’ system works under the command of a human operator and – by taking on the long duration and often repetitive control duties – it boosts the predictability and precision of operations while lowering the risk of fatigue-related incidents. The technology also enables new capabilities on water, such as the onshore command of remote offshore vessels.

About Sea Machines
Headquartered in the global tech hub of Boston and operating globally, Sea Machines is the leader in pioneering autonomous control and advanced perception systems for the marine industries. Founded in 2015, the company builds autonomous vessel software and systems, which increases the safety, efficiency and performance of ships, workboats and other commercial vessels. Learn more about Sea Machines at www.sea-machines.com.

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(BOSTON; July 22, 2020) – Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics, a leading developer of autonomous systems for ocean-going vessels and workboats, announced today that it has closed a new $15 million financing round with significant participation by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services. This investment in Sea Machines marks one of the largest venture rounds for an advanced technology company serving the marine and maritime industries.

The strategic investment and associated partnership with HII will accelerate the deployment of self-piloting technologies in the rising market of unmanned naval boats and ships and is a continuation of HII’s expansion in the rapidly growing autonomous and unmanned maritime systems industry.

“This reinforces Sea Machines’ position as the leading developer of autonomous navigation and wireless vessel control systems,” said Michael G. Johnson, CEO, Sea Machines. “Our ability to secure significant financing during a challenging economic environment is an indicator of investors’ confidence in our ability to reshape and retool the marine industries with modern-day, advanced technologies. And being selected as technology partner by HII, a leader in every right, further affirms our course in product and market approach.”

“This investment represents our commitment to advanced innovation and competencies across the unmanned systems market,” said Andy Green, executive vice president and president of technical solutions, HII. “Sea Machines is making significant strides in the unmanned surface vessel (USV) industry. We want to invest in their growth and continue to form complementary partnerships across this key domain.”

Sea Machines’ autonomous systems serve the modern mariner. They markedly increase productivity of vessel operations by assuming active domain perception and navigation duties. A Sea Machines system works under the command of a human operator and, by taking on the long duration and often repetitive control duties, it boosts the predictability and precision of operations while lowering the risk of fatigue-related incidents. The technology also enables new capabilities on water, such as the onshore command of remote offshore vessels.

“We are entering a phase of growth and universal interest like what was witnessed in the self-driving automotive space starting five years ago, but the difference being that marine self-piloting systems are already operationally deployed. We expect to see broad adoption of autonomous technology on water ahead of that on roads,” said Johnson.

Since launching its first family of products in late 2018, Sea Machines has deployed systems on vessels serving a multitude of sectors. From large cargo vessels (such as the previously disclosed program with A.P. Moller-Maersk) to U.S.-flag ATBs and data-collecting survey boats, oil-spill response craft, search-and-rescue (SAR), patrol and crew transfer vessels. Sea Machines systems are now operating in four of the world’s eight geographical regions and this reach is enabled through a dealer-partner program with established marine electronics integrators.

This investment round was led by Accomplice with further participation by Toyota AI Ventures, Brunswick Corp. (through investment partner TechNexus), Geekdom Fund, NextGen Venture Partners, Eniac VC, LaunchCapital and others.

“Five percent of global GDP is directly fueled by the marine economy and the industry is poised for technology innovation,” said Ryan Moore, partner, Accomplice. “Michael and the Sea Machines team have achieved significant progress and this financing underscores our strong position.”

About Sea Machines
Headquartered in the global tech hub of Boston and operating globally, Sea Machines is the leader in pioneering autonomous control and advanced perception systems for the marine industries. Founded in 2015, the company builds autonomous vessel software and systems, which increases the safety, efficiency and performance of ships, workboats and commercial vessels. Learn more about Sea Machines at www.sea-machines.com.

Huntington Ingalls Industries
Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII’s Technical Solutions division supports national security missions around the globe with unmanned systems, defense and federal solutions, nuclear and environmental services, and fleet sustainment. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: www.huntingtoningalls.com.

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(BOSTON; December 17, 2018) – Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics announced today that it has closed a $10 million Series A investment led by Accomplice and Eniac Ventures, with participation from Toyota AI Ventures; Brunswick Corp., through investment partner TechNexus Venture Collaborative; NextGen VP, Geekdom Fund; LaunchCapital; LDV Capital and others. The investment marks one of the largest venture rounds for a marine- and maritime-focused technology company and brings the total capital Sea Machines has raised to $12.5M. Sea Machines will use the funds to expand the sales and global reach of its recently released line of products, grow the R&D and engineering teams, roll out new product feature sets, and further the company’s lead in developing advanced situational awareness systems for vessels.  

The industrial marine sector encompasses a broad domain of significant industries, such as maritime transportation, offshore energy, and commercial fishing and aquaculture. Though each are major contributors to the global economy, they commonly operate near or below break-even, in large part due to continued reliance on 20th-century methodologies and technologies. Today’s autonomous technology offers proven solutions to these challenges, and is already being used to retool and modernize the industry for the better.

“We are creating the technology that propels the future of the marine industries. This investment enables us to double down on our commitment to building advanced command and control products that make the industry more capable, productive and profitable,” said Michael Gordon Johnson, founder and CEO, Sea Machines. “This backing is another signal that Sea Machines is the unquestioned leader in the space and is playing an integral role in the revolution of marine and maritime operations driven by technology.”

“At Toyota AI Ventures, we believe that autonomous mobility can help improve people’s lives and create new capabilities – whether on land, in the air or at sea,” said Jim Adler, founding managing director, Toyota AI Ventures. “Sea Machines’ autonomous technology and advanced perception systems can reduce costs, improve efficiency and enhance safety in the multi-billion dollar commercial shipping industry. This marks our first investment in the maritime industry, and we’re excited to embark on this journey with Sea Machines.” 

“Eniac Ventures is excited to back Michael Johnson and the Sea Machines team – the leading maritime and robotics experts solving this industry’s most critical issues, including labor, safety, efficiency and cost,” said Vic Singh, founding general partner, Eniac Ventures. “The level of traction they have from the global maritime industry is a telltale sign that the industry is the next frontier for autonomy. We’re excited to support them as they scale in this important phase of their journey.”

“I think this investment sends a strong signal on the types of technologies that will come to define the maritime industry in the future,” said P. Michael A. Rodey, senior manager, A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Sea Machines is currently developing advanced perception and navigation assistance technology for a range of vessel types, including container ships. In the first quarter, the company will initiate testing of its perception and situational awareness technology aboard one of A.P. Moller-Maersk’s new-build ice-class container ships. 

In October, Sea Machines released its introductory line of autonomous command and remote control systems, developed for the demanding challenges of vessels serving the offshore commercial, scientific and government applications. The SM product series is available now and can be installed aboard existing or new-build commercial vessels with return on investment typically seen within a year.

About Sea Machines
Headquartered in the global tech hub of Boston with a second office in Hamburg, Germany, Sea Machines is a leader in pioneering autonomous control and advanced perception systems for the marine and maritime industries. Founded in 2015, the company builds autonomous vessel software and systems, with a purpose of increasing safety, capability, and performance of commercial vessels, including workboats, security craft, ferries and cargo vessels. Learn more about Sea Machines at www.sea-machines.com.  

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