Vatn Systems raises $13m in seed round to advance US Defense AUVs
Vatn Systems, a defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles for the US military and allies, has raised a $13 million seed round, bringing total funding to $16.5 million.
The round was led by DYNE Ventures with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, RTX Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), Propeller Ventures, SAIC Ventures, Cubit Capital, Fortitude Ventures and existing investors that include Centre Street Partners, The Veteran Fund, Blue Collective, and Decisive Point.
"This funding enables us to advance our strategy to expand our team and set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to bring our autonomous underwater vehicles to market next year," said Nelson Mills, Co-Founder and CEO of Vatn Systems."
Vatn Systems' modular autonomous underwater vehicles were designed to enable customers to deploy effects at scale against undersea and surface targets.
"Bridging the gap between AUVs and torpedoes, Vatn's flexible design and in-house inertial navigation system enable precision delivery of a wide range of effects at ranges of almost 1,000 miles," said Vatn.
"A core differentiator is the company's advanced navigation software that is effective in GPS, vision, and communication-compromised environments. Vatn vehicles use applied AI to make decisions in real-time, and the systems also leverage machine learning to enhance navigation algorithms."
Founded in April 2023, Vatn Systems launched its first drones in the water within six months. The company is actively testing in military exercises with defense organizations including the US Navy and the US Marine Corps.
"The development of autonomous underwater vehicles that collaborate in cooperative swarms, especially in challenging environments with limited communication, could be a game changer in completing sea domain missions," said Chris Moran, Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures."
"We're also confident they can replicate their early success with the Department of Defense to address commercial needs in sectors such as law enforcement, aquaculture, and search and recovery across the US and our AUKUS partners," added Matthew Kibble, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of DYNE Ventures.
