Boosted by defense and Starlink, Orca AI pulls in $72.5M for its autonomous shipping platform

The autonomous navigation market — where ships, guided by AI, steer themselves, resulting in fuel and time savings — is projected to sail past $11 billion by 2028. As a result, companies in this space are pushing on an open door. The latest is Orca AI, which closed a Series B funding round of $72.5 million led by Brighton Park Capital. Existing investors Ankona Capital and Hyperlink Ventures also participated. The London-based company has now raised over $111 million, including a $23 million funding round last year. So what drove the new round? In a word: defense. Founded in 2018 by CEO Yarden Gross and CTO Dor Raviv, Orca AI applies AI-powered decision making and autonomous capabilities to ships based on a marine visual dataset of over 80 million nautical miles. By employing AI in navigation, it’s possible to significantly reduce collisions and allow crews to focus attention on other aspects of the voyage. “The main business still is in the commercial sector. We already have collab ... Read full article.