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Ulysses funding, valuation and investors
Modular autonomous surface and underwater vehicles for ocean restoration, infrastructure, and defense.
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Series A
$38M · April 2026
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
$46M
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
private
series a · San Francisco, California
Investors in latest funding
Lead: Andreessen Horowitz (American Dynamism)
Other: Booz Allen Ventures , Harpoon Ventures
Overview
Ulysses builds networked autonomous maritime systems for above- and below-surface missions. Its Mako autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a modular, low-cost platform for ecological restoration, subsea infrastructure inspection, offshore energy surveys, and defense ISR. The company also develops Leviathan, an autonomous surface mothership, and Kraken, a launch-recovery-recharge system designed for persistent missions without human intervention. Founded in Dublin in 2023 by Akhil Voorakkara, Will O'Brien, Colm O'Brien, and Jamie Wedderburn, Ulysses operates from San Francisco and targets vertically integrated production at a fraction of legacy defense prime pricing.
Why Ulysses is interesting
Irish founders built mass-manufacturable Mako AUVs starting around $50K — validated in commercial seagrass and reef work before pitching allied navies on the same hardware stack a16z American Dynamism backed at Series A.
Product & use cases
Integrated stack of Mako AUVs, Leviathan surface vessels, and Kraken autonomous launch-recovery-recharge — modular payloads swap for restoration, inspection, and surveillance missions.
- Seagrass restoration and reef monitoring for conservation NGOs
- Subsea cable and offshore wind infrastructure inspection
- Persistent ISR and port security for allied defense customers
- Commercial survey work in price-sensitive ocean markets
Key facts
- Series A (Apr 2026): $38M led by a16z American Dynamism; combined with $8M seed for $46M total new capital (Silicon Republic, a16z)
- Mako AUV: up to 72-hour endurance, 5,000 ft depth, ~$50K base price vs multi-million legacy AUVs (Core Memory podcast, company statements)
- Commercial deployments include Great Barrier Reef Foundation work; pitching allied forces on same hardware (Core Memory, TBPN)
- Leviathan USV mothership targeting six-month at-sea persistence and autonomous Mako launch-recovery (Tectonic Defense)
Funding history (newest first)
Series A
2026-04 $38M- Andreessen Horowitz (lead)
- Booz Allen Ventures (participant)
- Harpoon Ventures (participant)
Seed
2026-04 $8M- Pebblebed (lead)
Source: https://www.tectonicdefense.com/ulysses-raises-46m-seed-series-a/
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from Ulysses's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: Vertically integrated manufacturing targets Mako units from roughly $50K fully kitted versus multi-million-dollar legacy AUVs — same modular stack serves commercial and defense buyers.
Maritime autonomy splits between defense primes with fielded UUV programs and newer pure-play builders like Anduril. Ulysses bets commercial validation plus low unit economics can win dual-use contracts before primes adapt pricing — execution risk is harsh ocean environments and scaling production beyond pilot missions.
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Anduril Industries direct
Scaling subsea autonomy via Lattice and high-volume AUV production for DoD — larger installed defense footprint today.
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HII (Huntington Ingalls Industries) incumbent
REMUS and Mission Technologies UUVs are fielded Navy programs — proven but far more expensive and slower to procure.
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L3Harris incumbent
Integrates autonomous subsea systems and C2 for allied navies — strong prime relationships, less startup-style cost curve.
Notable stories
- Origin story started when a co-founder learned how much humanity depends on seagrass during a surf trip and sketched a planting robot that weekend — the team later expanded into defense and infrastructure (Core Memory podcast).
- a16z's American Dynamism memo cites Irish founders building in the U.S. a small AUV that aims to outperform defense primes at a fraction of the cost — rare explicit prime comparison from the fund (a16z LinkedIn, Apr 2026).
Industries
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