Saronic raises $175 million for military drone boats

Published on July 20, 2024

Saronic, an Austin, Texas-based maker of autonomous surface vehicles for the U.S. Navy, raised $175 million in new venture capital funding at around a $1b valuation.

Why it matters: This is a big-money reminder that military drones aren't just for the sky.

Deal details: Andreessen Horowitz led the Series B round, and was joined by 8VC, Caffeinated Capital, Elad Gil, and NightDragon.

The bottom line: The U.S. Navy wants a hybrid fleet — with unmanned vessels capable of shooting, jamming, communicating — and defense contractors large and small are rushing to fill the gap

Read Full Article

Other news

Unmanned, unmarked research vessel found drifting in Taiwan Strait

July 20, 2024
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A fisher in Penghu County discovered an unmarked, solar-powered unmanned surface vehicle (USV) operating in the Taiwan Strait on Friday (July 19) off the coast of Mudou Island. A fishing boat towed the vessel, which was without power, to Jibei Island and turned it over to the Taiwan Coast Guard, who are investigating to find the owner of the USV. The USV resembles technology

VR/AR military tech projects take center stage at Kyiv’s Defence Vision Day

July 20, 2024
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports that Kyiv held Defence Vision Day, an event that gathered the best military projects developed using virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies.Recently, the ministry announced a competition on creating VR/AR complexes for training and simulations for the Ukrainian military. The goal of Defence Vision Day was to find the best solutions and present the