Blue Water Autonomy

Blue Water Autonomy is a defense technology firm established in 2024, focusing on the design and construction of autonomous ships. The company's primary client is the U.S. Navy, positioning itself as a key industrial partner to enhance national defense and modernize maritime operations in response to evolving geopolitical threats.

The venture was co-founded by CEO Rylan Hamilton, Austin Gray, and CTO Scott Miller. Hamilton combines his experience as a former U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer with a robust background in robotics and logistics from roles at Kiva, Amazon, and as a co-founder of 6 River Systems, which was acquired by Shopify. Gray also served as a U.S. Navy officer, specializing in naval intelligence, and holds a dual degree from Harvard Business School and MIT. Miller contributes extensive manufacturing and robotics expertise from his time as president and engineer at iRobot, where he was instrumental in scaling products like the Roomba. This founding team's blend of direct naval operational experience and proven success in scaling complex robotics companies underpins the firm's strategic direction.

Blue Water Autonomy's core offering is the development of completely unmanned, long-endurance Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) designed for mass production. Unlike retrofitted solutions, these ships are purpose-built for autonomy from the ground up, integrating a proprietary full-stack autonomy suite of hardware, software, and AI. This allows the vessels to operate for months on the open ocean, covering thousands of miles without a crew. The ships feature a modular design, enabling the integration of various payloads for diverse missions such as surveillance, logistics, and munitions transport. The company is targeting multi-million dollar platforms, such as an initial 100-foot, 100-ton vessel, to complement the Navy's manned fleet. After its founding, the company quickly commenced salt-water testing and, in January 2025, secured $14 million in a seed funding round led by Eclipse, Riot Ventures, and Impatient Ventures to expand its engineering team and accelerate development.

Keywords: maritime autonomy, unmanned surface vessels, USV, naval technology, defense technology, autonomous ships, military robotics, US Navy contractor, defense-tech, marine engineering, unmanned maritime systems, shipbuilding, naval operations, distributed maritime operations, iRobot, Rylan Hamilton, Austin Gray, Scott Miller, Eclipse Ventures, Riot Ventures, Impatient Ventures