• Rides recent wave of investor interest in physical AI
• Acquisitions possible to increase vertical integration

US defense technology startup Blue Water Autonomy is preparing to raise additional capital, as it moves toward launching its first autonomous naval vessel in the second half of 2026, CEO Rylan Hamilton told Mergermarket.

The Boston-based company has raised about USD 64m in equity funding since it was founded in 2024 and Hamilton expects its next financing round to be a multiple of the USD 50m Series A round it announced in August 2025. The company plans to continue raising capital in the private markets and is still years away from considering a public listing, the CEO noted.

The firm could announce further fundraising plans later this year, Hamilton added, and it will continue to raise additional financing as it hits milestones over the next couple of years.

Existing investors include Eclipse Ventures, Riot Ventures, and GV.

Blue Water Autonomy develops fully unmanned, ocean-going ships designed for military missions, and the company is currently building its first “Liberty‑class” autonomous vessel. Launch and delivery to the US Navy are expected in the second half of the year, Hamilton said.

The vessel class takes its name from the World War II–era Liberty Ships, which were produced rapidly and at scale to meet urgent national needs. After delivering the first ship, Blue Water plans to move into serial production, targeting 10 to 20 vessels per year, according to a company press release. Hamilton declined to provide specific production goals for next year but said he expects Blue Water to deliver more ships in 2027 than in 2026.

Heightened US pressure on Cuba and Venezuela, along with the newly launched military campaign against Iran, has not altered the company’s timeline. The developments have reinforced the importance of its mission, however. “We’re already moving as fast as we can,” he said.

Construction is under way at Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana, while Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Group provides a steel hull design that has been used on more than 80 vessels of similar size.

“Rather than innovating on the hull itself, we’re taking a proven design and putting our technology on the inside,” Hamilton said.

Blue Water’s ships are designed as multi-mission platforms capable of carrying modular payloads housed in standard 20- or 40-foot shipping containers. The vessels operate fully autonomously using onboard artificial intelligence systems that allow them to navigate and conduct missions without a crew. They leverage the same classes of AI models that power Alphabet’s Waymo vehicles on the road.

By eliminating all onboard accommodations for sailors, including berthing, food preparation areas, and other facilities, the company aims to reduce complexity and cost compared with traditional naval ships. Hamilton described the vessel design as “a pickup truck for the open ocean,” allowing the Navy to deploy different payloads, such as missiles, depending on mission requirements.

Unlike traditional shipbuilders that rely on cost‑plus contracts, Blue Water does not. The Navy pays full price for its vessels, allowing the company to tap private capital to hire engineers and invest in technology without having to subsidize the entire shipbuild, he explained.

Blue Water sees the US Navy as the primary near-term customer for large autonomous vessels.

Recent Congressional funding has supported development of unmanned maritime platforms as the Navy looks for lower-cost ways to expand its fleet and extend the reach of manned surface combatants. The company is also working with the US Army and Marine Corps and exploring opportunities with international naval customers, according to Hamilton.

Competitors in the space include Huntington Ingalls Industries, Saronic Technologies, and Anduril.

Blue Water could use acquisitions to accelerate the development of its autonomous ship technology or increase vertical integration, but it is not currently pursuing deals or interested in adjacent areas, Hamilton said.

Partnerships with maritime suppliers and international operators may also play a role as Blue Water expands production and deploys its platform globally, according to the executive.

Over time, Blue Water plans to adapt its technology for commercial maritime applications, such as cargo and container shipping.

“If you can lower the cost of moving goods from point A to point B, there are plenty of commercial customers that would care about that,” he said.

Blue Water’s leadership team has experience in robotics and automation.

Hamilton previously worked at Kiva Systems, the warehouse robotics company that Amazon acquired in 2012 for USD 775m in cash and renamed Amazon Robotics. He later founded robotics company 6 River Systems, which Shopify bought for USD 450m in 2019.

After he sold 6 River Systems to Shopify, he came up with Blue Water. “Having served in the Navy, I started talking with people about autonomous systems and saw a gap in the market. There were companies building small autonomous drone boats, but nobody was purely focused on autonomous ships capable of crossing oceans with meaningful payloads,” he said.

Blue Water’s development comes amid growing investor interest in “physical AI,” which applies machine learning technologies to robotics and autonomous machines.

Advances in AI have enabled robotics companies to develop complex systems faster and with smaller engineering teams than was possible five to 10 years ago, Hamilton said.

“At the end of the day, autonomy is interesting, but what customers really care about is whether it’s better, faster and cheaper,” he said.

Goodwin provides legal guidance to Blue Water.