“Maritime conflict is heating up globally, from undersea cable sabotage in the Taiwan Strait, Baltic and Black Sea, to contested waters in the South China Sea, Persian Gulf and Eastern Mediterranean,” Nathan Benaich, founder and general partner of AI-focused VC
@airstreet, tells
@Siftedeu.
“Control of subsea infrastructure is becoming a critical strategic lever too.”
Benaich says Air Street is investing in “full-stack” companies building both hardware and software for sea autonomy. He points to Swedish portfolio company
@polarmistai, which makes maritime drones and is building an optical, GPS-free positioning system that it says doesn’t drift over time to prevent navigational errors. The startup is also backed by former CIA officer
@ericsles via his new VC firm
@201vc_.
Another of Benaich’s favourites, Athens-based
@delian_ai, recently launched an autonomous naval and aerial interceptors product — drones and boats that can attack — for things like ocean defence and border surveillance. “There's a huge open space across [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance], subsea surveying, [electronic warfare], logistics and infrastructure protection,” he says.