Insider Brief
- Saronic Technologies raised $1.75 billion in a Series D led by Kleiner Perkins, valuing the company at $9.25 billion.
- The funding will be used to expand shipbuilding capacity, including development of the Port Alpha shipyard and scaling facilities in Louisiana and Texas.
- Saronic will also accelerate production of autonomous vessels and invest in AI-driven maritime systems across surface and subsurface operations.
Saronic Technologies has raised $1.75 billion in a Series D round led by Kleiner Perkins, valuing the autonomous maritime systems company at $9.25 billion, as it looks to expand U.S. shipbuilding capacity and scale production of autonomous vessels.
According to the company, new investors in the round include Advent International, Bessemer Venture Partners, DFJ Growth and BAM Elevate, alongside existing backers such as 8VC, Caffeinated Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Elad Gil and Franklin Templeton, Saronic said.
How Will Saronic Use the Funding?
The investment is focused on speeding up production of autonomous ships and modernizing maritime industrial infrastructure, which includes development of its next-generation shipyard, Port Alpha, and expansion of existing facilities in Louisiana and Texas.
Saronic said it’s approach is autonomy-first shipbuilding that combines software-defined systems with advanced manufacturing to produce vessels at scale that intends to address declining U.S. shipbuilding capacity while meeting growing defense demand for autonomous maritime platforms.
Co-founder and CEO Dino Mavrookas noted the U.S> has seen a decline in shipbuilding and maritime infrastructure.
“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,” Mavrookas said. “The new capital will accelerate Saronic’s ability to bring that model to life, generate entirely new classes of autonomous ships and maritime capabilities, and scale U.S. shipbuilding capacity on a timeline not seen since World War II.”
A portion of the funding will also support expansion of Saronic’s portfolio of autonomous surface vessels and AI-driven maritime systems. The company said it plans to scale production across platforms ranging from the 24-foot Corsair to the 180-foot Marauder, while developing new vessels with greater range, endurance and payload capacity.
The raise follows a $600 million Series C round in 2025 that valued the company at $4 billion and coincided with increased U.S. government demand, including a $392 million production contract with the U.S. Navy, according to the company. Since then, Saronic has expanded its industrial footprint, including a $300 million investment in a Louisiana shipyard expansion, and grown its workforce to more than 1,300 employees.
