On February 18, Saronic Technologies announced the closure of a $600 million Series C funding round led by investor Elad Gil, valuing the autonomous shipbuilding company at $4 billion.
The company intends to utilize the funds to establish a new shipyard, named Port Alpha, and to broaden its fleet of autonomous surface vessels to include medium and large-class ships for U.S. defense applications. Additionally, the funds will be used to develop hybrid fleets for the U.S. Navy by integrating numerous unmanned systems and manned platforms.
Saronic stated, "With this raise, we will invest in U.S. shipbuilding infrastructure and collaborate with federal and state legislators to establish public-private partnerships."
In this latest funding round, Saronic attracted support from a new investor, General Catalyst, in addition to existing investors such as a16z, Caffeinated Capital, and Joe Lonsdale's 8VC of Palantir Technologies.
Amid a recovery in deal-making and initial public offerings, fueled by interest rate cuts, venture capital firms are increasingly comfortable signing substantial investment deals to enhance their opportunities for profitable exits. Last year, global venture capital deal-making activity surged over 5% to $368.5 billion, according to a report from PitchBook.
As reported by the Financial Times in December, Saronic is expected to participate in a proposed consortium, potentially alongside data analytics firm Palantir and defense tech company Anduril Industries, to supply advanced defense and weapons capabilities.