American technology and shipbuilding company Blue Water Autonomy has announced $50 million in Series A funding to build and deploy its first long-range, full-sized autonomous ship next year. The funding round was led by venture capital firm GV, with all existing investors also participating. The new financing brings the company's total funding raised to $64 million.
The company is designing and building what it described as “highly producible” unmanned ships for the US Navy. Blue Water said the new funding will allow the company to advance its work, having already completed successful on-water engineering tests and started acquiring long-lead material from more than fifty selected suppliers since its seed round in April 2025.
Rylan Hamilton, the company's CEO, stated that there is an urgent need for autonomous ships designed for maritime security and logistics and that the new funding provides the resources to build vessels that can operate on the open ocean for months at a time. He added that the company is, "laser-focused on perfecting a single platform class," to ensure quality and speed to market.
The company noted that its focus on naval applications comes as the Pentagon has accelerated plans for autonomous vessels to bolster the fleet, supported by $2.1 billion in new congressional funding for medium-sized unmanned surface vessels like those Blue Water Autonomy builds.