Portuguese venture capital invests in underwater startup Subdron
Subdron, an Austrian startup specialising in autonomous underwater navigation and data processing for advanced inspections, has announced raising €1.3m in a Pre-Seed round.
The investment round in Subdron, which was participated by Portugal's Faber, aims to improve autonomous underwater vehicles with AI for autonomous inspections of underwater infrastructure.
Subdron, an Austrian startup specialising in autonomous underwater navigation and data processing for advanced inspections, today announced it has raised €1.3 million in a Pre-Seed round.
The investment round was led by xista science ventures, a venture capital fund focused on scientific breakthroughs, and Lisbon-based venture capital Faber through its ocean-related climate technology fund, and also included participation from investor Saber GmbH.
Autonomous underwater vehicles
The solution developed by Subdron enables autonomous underwater vehicles with state-of-the-art technology and artificial intelligence to perform autonomous inspections of underwater infrastructure, such as harbour facilities and ship hulls.
This technology has the potential to significantly decarbonise the shipping industry and revolutionise the maintenance and monitoring of critical underwater assets, reducing costs by up to 50% and improving safety across multiple sectors.
This investment will allow Subdron to expand its engineering team with four new hires, accelerate the development and deployment of its advanced technology, which has the potential to revolutionise the way underwater structures are inspected for biological fouling and structural integrity, and open a subsidiary in Porto.
A subsidiary of Subdron will be set up in the city of Porto
The presence of the team and facilities in a coastal city like Porto, with access to a relevant port like Leixões, will be strategic for the company to establish collaborations with local marine robotics research centres, establish contacts with shipping companies and start marketing its services.
"We are excited to announce the successful completion of our seed funding round," says Thomas Vonach, Founder and CEO of Subdron. "This substantial investment will drive our mission to revolutionise the underwater inspection industry, bringing transformative changes that increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve the overall sustainability of underwater infrastructure management."
"Their innovative approach to underwater inspections has the potential to revolutionise several industries," Bernhard Petermeier points out.
"We were impressed by Subdron's innovative technology and vision, as their groundbreaking approach to underwater inspections has the potential to revolutionise several industries, from the maritime and transport sector to energy and environmental monitoring," notes Bernhard Petermeier, Partner at xista science ventures. "We are proud to support their mission and look forward to seeing their autonomous vehicles make a significant impact on decarbonising a traditionally labour- and carbon-intensive industry."
Although more efficient than land or air transport, maritime transport accounts for around 3% of global CO2 emissions. Biofouling on the ship's hull can significantly increase fuel consumption and CO2 emissions″, explains Carlos Esteban, Partner at Faber. "So cheaper, faster and more accurate biofouling data, as the subdrone system will provide, would lead to optimised hull cleaning plans, resulting in savings in both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions."
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