Saronic Technologies announced on March 31 that it had secured $1.75 billion in funding that gives the Austin, Texas-based maritime defense startup a post-money valuation of $9.25 billion.
Saronic said it will use the funds to boost production capacity for its fleet of autonomous seacraft.
Co-founded in 2022 by former Navy SEAL Team Six member Dino Mavrookas, Saronic Technologies is developing multiple maritime vessels with full artificial intelligence-driven autonomy and software integration. The company’s smallest vessel is the 24-foot Corsair autonomous surface vessel. Its mid-range Mirage vessel is 40 feet, while the Marauder stands at 180 feet.
Saronic said in a news release that the Series D funding will allow for continued expansion and ramp-up of its business operations and portfolio of autonomous surface vessels. It will also continue to address ongoing maritime challenges in operating both surface and subsurface autonomous vessels.
“Over the past decades, the U.S. has experienced a steady erosion of its ability to build ships and manufacture critical maritime infrastructure,” Mavrookas said.
“We are confronting this challenge with a fundamentally new model of American shipbuilding, one that integrates first-principles engineering, advanced manufacturing, and software-defined production to deliver autonomous vessels with unprecedented speed, precision, and scale. The new capital will accelerate Saronic’s ability to bring that model to life.”
In April 2025, Saronic acquired Franklin, Louisiana-based shipbuilder Gulf Craft and committed $300 million to expand the shipbuilding facility in St. Mary Parish by more than 300,000 square feet. The company broke ground on the expansion last November, with construction expected to wrap up by the end of 2026.
At the time of the acquisition, Saronic also said it would invest more than $2.5 billion to build Port Alpha, a new modern shipyard that could produce hundreds of autonomous surface vessels annually. The company has not yet finalized a location for the new port venture, however.
Saronic said it has also expanded its headquarters footprint in Austin to more than 500,000 square feet, with new office hubs in San Diego and Washington, D.C. The company’s current headcount tops 1,300.
Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins led the funding round, which included investments by Advent International, Bessemer Venture Partners, DFJ Growth, and BAM Elevate. Existing investors include Franklin Templeton, Andreessen Horowitz, Caffeinated Capital, and technology entrepreneur Elad Gil.
Ilya Fushman, partner at Kleiner Perkins, said in a statement that maritime dominance—an area of particular importance as the ongoing war with Iran and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil and fuel prices skyrocketing—requires both technology and production capacity to scale.
“Those two things rarely come together,” Fushman said. “What makes Saronic special is that they’re building both: autonomous ships designed from day one to push the boundaries of what’s possible, and the manufacturing infrastructure to produce them consistently. That’s what turns a technical breakthrough into an enduring platform advantage.”
In February 2025, Saronic closed $600 million in Series C funding, which valued the company at $4 billion. Saronic announced in December 2025 that it had secured a $392 million production contract with the U.S. Navy.
