Apr 15, 2025

Share This Article With $14M in funding and seasoned roboticists, company is ramping to deliver a full stack autonomous ship for the U.S. Navy BOSTON, April 11, 2025-- Blue Water Autonomy, Inc., the technology company building autonomous ships for the U.S. Navy, emerged from stealth today, and announced $14M in seed funding from Eclipse, Riot, and Impatient Ventures. The company is building a completely unmanned and highly producible ship that can serve many missions on the open ocean. Founded in 2024 by leaders formerly of Amazon Robotics, iRobot, and the U.S. Navy, Blue Water Autonomy has developed a full-stack autonomy suite, commenced salt-water testing, and developed concept ship designs in under a year. With this seed funding, the company will expand its engineering team, accelerate ship testing, and integrate different payloads onto its platform. Democracy's Navies Are Stretched Thin, With Sea Lanes Under Attack And China Tension Rising As geopolitical tensions with Russia and China drive military buildups globally, the U.S. Navy must maintain deterrence in the Pacific while keeping global trade lanes open. In the Red Sea, U.S. warships have seen months of combat. New threats prove their danger every day, from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Meanwhile, in the Pacific, Chinese shipyards are launching ships at a pace that U.S. industry cannot match. By deploying autonomous ships at scale and at lower cost, the Navy can complement its current fleet and restore deterrence. "Sea power has been the bedrock of America's security and prosperity for centuries," said Rylan Hamilton, co-founder and CEO of Blue Water Autonomy. "We believe the entire maritime economy is in need of transformation — it starts with supporting the U.S. Navy which needs dynamic industrial partners to bring top technology to its sailors, including ocean-going, fully autonomous ships." Blue Water Autonomy's team consists of proven founders and Navy veterans, bringing the deep understanding, urgency, and experience necessary to help the U.S. Navy meet the moment it faces by delivering America's warfighters overdue innovation. With a track record of delivering hundreds of products and deploying millions of robots to commercial customers, Blue Water Autonomy knows what it takes to innovate, iterate, and scale. The Navy will soon operate autonomous warships alongside crewed destroyers, submarines, and aircraft carriers - providing new and timely capability to the fleet. Eventually, the core unmanned technology developed for the Navy will pave the way for similarly revolutionary innovation in commercial markets from cargo and offshore energy, to fishing and luxury transportation. "The U.S. military needs more than incremental improvements to meet the moment and maintain its status on the global stage," said Seth Winterroth, partner at Eclipse. "Autonomous ships are critical to enable the Navy to continue securing deterrence given the threat of China and Russia and the importance of shipping lanes in the Pacific. We previously backed Rylan at 6 River Systems and have seen first-hand his ability to scale a full stack technology company from concept to exit. No other company is tackling this problem at the ship level like Blue Water. The team is a rare combination of roboticists and Navy veterans that positions them to be a critical partner to the Navy, the entire Department of Defense, and will have a major impact on the maritime industry." About Blue Water Autonomy Founded in 2024, Blue Water Autonomy is making unmanned ships a reality. Blue Water's autonomous ship design fully-integrates hardware, software, and AI allowing the vessel to operate on the open ocean for months at a time. For more information about Blue Water Autonomy, visit: www.blw.ai About Eclipse With ~$5 billion in assets under management and a team of investors with deep operating expertise in technology, manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, healthcare, and consumer products, Eclipse is a leading U.S. venture capital firm. Its leadership team has the experience necessary to create and scale complex operations. Eclipse partners with exceptional companies that make physical industries more efficient, resilient, and profitable. For more information, visit www.eclipse.vc. About Riot Riot Ventures is a seed and growth stage venture capital firm dedicated to working closely with a small group of iconic companies focused on the modernization of critical industries. The firm partners with founders at the earliest stages and writes checks ranging from $1M to $100M+. For more information, visit www.riot.vc Contact: