Autonomous underwater vehicle developer Vatn Systems has closed a $60 million Series A funding round, enabling the company to accelerate manufacturing and technological development of AUVs for U.S. defense programs, allied navies, and commercial applications. The investment reflects surging demand for unmanned naval capabilities as undersea domains gain strategic importance.
Led by BVVC, the funding round attracted new investors including Hanwha, Airbus Ventures, Geodesic Capital, Dauntless Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, and Veteran Ventures Capital. Longstanding supporters—such as Lockheed Martin Ventures, SAIC Ventures, DYNE Ventures, Propeller Ventures, Decisive Point Ventures, Centre Street Partners, and Cubit Capital—also increased their commitments, lifting the company’s total capital raised to $76.5 million.
Globally, autonomous and uncrewed underwater systems are emerging as critical enablers of next-generation naval operations. In the U.S., the Navy and the Defense Innovation Unit continue to push forward a range of AUV programs to expand undersea awareness and operational endurance.
As part of the DIU’s LDUUV initiative, Kongsberg Discovery has demonstrated its HUGIN-series AUVs, which offer extended endurance and are tailored for missions including mine warfare, seabed surveying, and intelligence collection.
At the same time, Anduril has secured selection to prototype its Dive-LD AUV, focused on long-range underwater sensing and payload deployment, signaling strong Pentagon backing for modular and scalable autonomous maritime systems. Complementing these efforts, Oceaneering has been chosen to develop the Freedom AUV, intended to strengthen autonomous sensing capabilities in demanding undersea operating conditions.
