Self-driving cars were so last year.
In 2019, we’ll have our eyes on self-driving boats; Sea Machines’ self-driving boats, specifically.
The Boston-based marine tech company raised $10 million this week in a round led by Accomplice and Eniac Ventures — marking one of the largest rounds a marine tech company has seen in recent years.
Amelia Smith, communications and marketing at Sea Machines, said the funding will be used to expand the sales and global reach of the company’s recently released line of products; grow the R&D and engineering teams, and to roll out new product features.
This coming year will be marked by rapid growth that will retool and modernize the marine and maritime industries.”
She also said the investment will go toward furthering the development of advanced situational awareness systems for their vessels.
“With this financial backing, Sea Machines is now the unquestioned leader in the development of advanced situational awareness systems for commercial marine vessels,” Smith said. “During 2019, we intend to double down on our commitment to building advanced command-and-control products that make the industry more capable, productive and profitable.”
Founded in 2015, Sea Machines develops advanced perception and navigation assistance technology for a wide range of vessel types, including container ships, workboats, ferries and commercial vessels. Their software is designed to increase safety, capability and performance of these vessels, and has made Sea Machines a leader in the autonomous control space for the marine and maritime industries.
Though the company is looking to the future, 2018 was a pretty impressive year in itself: In October, Sea Machines released its first line of autonomous command-and-remote-control systems, developed for vessels serving commercial, scientific and government uses.
This product series is available now and can be installed aboard existing or new commercial vessels with return on investment typically seen within a year, the company noted in a press release.
“In short, this coming year will be marked by rapid growth that will retool and modernize the marine and maritime industries,” Smith said.
