Models
4
Patents
1
Overview
Saildrone builds wind and solar-powered autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) that collect ocean data at scale for months at a time without human intervention. Founded by Richard Jenkins in 2012, the company has raised over $345M in total funding and generated an estimated $43M in revenue in FY24 (up 231% YoY). Saildrone's fleet of USVs operates globally for hurricane forecasting, ocean mapping, maritime surveillance, and climate monitoring.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
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Analyst-grade signals, competitive tracking, and investment context across the global physical AI landscape. Launching 2026.
Key facts
Founded
CEO
Product
Fleet
Funding
Customers
Patents
Total funding
Revenue
Data & sources
Press releases
1
Patent documents
1
Web sources
2
4 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (4)
View all models →Current platform
Spectre
Saildrone's Spectre is its largest, fastest, and most capable platform to date, designed to fill an anti-submarine-warfare (ASW) capability gap and deliver high-speed, stealthy mission effects at sea.
Previous platform
Voyager
Saildrone's Voyager is a mid-size autonomous surface vehicle combining wind- and solar-powered propulsion with integrated sensors for persistent maritime ISR, mapping, and oceanographic data collection in coastal and offshore waters.
Previous platform
Surveyor
Saildrone's Surveyor is its largest extreme-range blue-water autonomous surface vehicle, combining wind-powered propulsion with solar-powered meteorological, oceanographic, acoustic, and ISR sensors for long-endurance deep-ocean mapping and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Current platform
Saildrone USV (Explorer / Voyager / Surveyor)
Saildrone (founded 2012 in Alameda, California by Richard Jenkins, with retired three-star admiral John Mustin as president) is the canonical commercial autonomous surface vessel company, operating wind- and solar-powered uncrewed surface vehicles for ocean data collection, mapping, and maritime domain awareness. Its line spans the 7-meter Explorer, the 10-meter Voyager, and the 20-meter Surveyor, with a new 52-meter diesel-electric hybrid Spectre announced in 2026 for delivery in 2027 that departs from the wind-and-solar identity. It runs a captive mission-operation model, owning and operating the fleet and selling data and outcomes rather than vessels, with customers including NOAA, the US Navy's 4th Fleet for counter-narcotics and illegal-fishing work, and Denmark's EIFO, and funding including a $100 million Series C, a $60 million EIFO round in May 2025, and a $50 million Lockheed Martin strategic investment in October 2025. The registry records it at commercial maturity, the most mature commercial surface-autonomy player, on twelve-plus years of operation, 130-plus vehicles, and recurring contracts. A significant cap-flag applies to its cumulative-scale figures, which are inconsistent across its own channels: an October 2023 primary milestone of 1,042,620 nautical miles, 32,438 days at sea, and 136 vehicles is the defensible verified anchor, while its homepage now claims more than 2 million nautical miles and a separate 2026 figure cites 2.5 million miles, both with the day-count frozen at 60,000, so the 2-to-2.5-million-mile claims are treated as not verified. The strongest discrete verified scale is its Navy 4th Fleet operation of about 130,000 nautical miles over roughly 2,700 mission-days. Its autonomy is genuine, though the degree of human supervision during missions is undisclosed.
Saildrone on the deployment map
Where Saildrone's robots are verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
Relationships
Explainers
Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about Saildrone, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.
- What is a maritime robot?
A maritime robot is an autonomous uncrewed vehicle (USV surface + AUV/UUV subsea) operating in the maritime regulatory regime for ocean data collection + commercial + defense operations. Per DEPLOY's framework, the cohort enumerates as: surface×commercial (Saildrone fleet) + surface×defense (Saronic Corsair/Mirage/Marauder) + subsea×defense triad (Anduril Dive-LD + Anduril Ghost Shark + HII REMUS) + subsea×commercial (Bedrock Ocean) + autonomy-system (Sea Machines) + hybrid surface+subsea (Ocean Aero Triton) + legacy-prime entity-scoped (Kongsberg HUGIN AUV + Exail DriX USV). Editorial throughlines: regime matrix (surface×commercial vs surface×defense vs subsea×commercial vs subsea×defense vs autonomy-system vs hybrid); new-defense maritime extension (Saronic + Anduril extend Anduril+Helsing+Shield-AI new-defense from aerial into water, contrasting HII REMUS legacy prime); entity-scoping discipline (registry entity scoped to AI-primary vehicle not parent corp); captive-data-as-a-service vs hardware-sale vs autonomy-system-vendor business-model split.
- What is Saildrone?
Saildrone is the canonical commercial surface autonomous vessel exemplar in the maritime cohort. The company operates a wind-and-solar-powered USV fleet (Explorer + Voyager + Surveyor classes) on a captive data-as-a-service business model: Saildrone owns + operates the fleet, sells ocean data to customers including NOAA + US Navy + climate research + commercial ocean-monitoring partners. Cumulative deployment milestone: 1.04M cumulative nautical miles as 2023 primary milestone per primary-source disclosure (cap-flagged; current figure should be verified against current Saildrone public statements rather than inconsistent larger figures 2-2.5M nm range in aggregator channels). Per DEPLOY's framework, Saildrone is the verified-at-scale commercial surface autonomy entity; the captive-service business model contrasts structurally with Saronic's hardware-sale defense posture.
Current leadership (7)
- Richard Jenkins Founder & CEOsecondary-verified
- John Mustin PresidentIR-verified
- Tom Alexander Chief Government Relations OfficerIR-verified
- Jen Betz Chief Financial OfficerIR-verified
- Robert Kleist European Managing DirectorIR-verified
- Trevor Morrison ctosecondary-verified
- Susan Choi executivesecondary-verified
Founders (1)
- Richard Jenkinssolefounded 2012-01-01
Board (3)
- Michael Mullen chair
- Noah Knauf director
- William Hilarides director
Safety record
No incidents on record for Saildrone.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Saildrone in third-party press
Peer companies
- Saronic Technologies4 models
- BAE Systems3 models
- Kongsberg Maritime3 models
- Rekise Marine3 models
- Sea Machines Robotics2 models
- SubSea Craft2 models
Supplied by (2)
Sensors
- Kongsbergvia Saildrone USV (Explorer / Voyager / Surveyor)Kongsberg EM 304 MKII multibeam echo sounder -- deep-water bathymetric mapping on Saildrone Surveyor (to 7,000 m depth)supplies
- NovAtelvia Saildrone USV (Explorer / Voyager / Surveyor)NovAtel OEM7 precision GNSS -- sub-decimetre positioning for autonomous ocean navigationsuppliesclaimed
Inbound supply edges feeding this company directly or via the models it owns. Same source bar as the outbound view (verified against at least two strong sources).
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- growth
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (5)
- Strategic investment (Lockheed Martin)2025-10-29
$50M
Investors: Lockheed Martin (strategic)
- Equity round (2025)2025-05-13
$60M
Investors: EIFO (Export and Investment Fund of Denmark) (lead), Lux Capital, Washington Harbor Partners, Crowley Maritime Corporation, Academy Securities, Pinegrove
- Series C2021-10-18
$100M
Investors: BOND (lead), Lux Capital, Social Capital, XN, Standard Investments, Emerson Collective, Crowley Maritime Corporation, Capricorn Investment Group, Tribe Capital
- Series B2018-05-15
$60M
Investors: Horizons Ventures (lead)
- Series A2016-01-01
$14M(reported)
Investors: Social Capital (lead), Capricorn Investment Group, Lux Capital
Patent estate (1)
- US9381985usptograntedassignee
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Saildrone: Securing the Global Maritime Domain
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Saildrone 2023 NOAA hurricane mission
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Saildrone 2024 NOAA hurricane mission
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Saildrone Surveyor uncrewed surface vehicle
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 4, 2026
Saildrone autonomous surface vehicles
Sources (3)
Common questions
- What is Saildrone?
- Saildrone builds wind and solar-powered autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) that collect ocean data at scale for months at a time without human intervention. Founded by Richard Jenkins in 2012, the company has raised over $345M in total funding and generated an estimated $43M in revenue in FY24 (up 231% YoY). Saildrone's fleet of USVs operates globally for hurricane forecasting, ocean mapping, maritime surveillance, and climate monitoring.
- What does Saildrone make?
- Saildrone has 4 robot models on the DEPLOY registry: Spectre, Voyager, Surveyor and 1 other (Saildrone builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).
- Is Saildrone publicly traded?
- No. Saildrone is privately held and not publicly traded, per the DEPLOY registry.
- Who competes with Saildrone?
- On the DEPLOY registry, peer companies to Saildrone building in the same form factors include Saronic Technologies, BAE Systems, Kongsberg Maritime, Rekise Marine.
- Who is the CEO of Saildrone?
- Richard Jenkins is the ceo of Saildrone, per the DEPLOY registry.
- How can I invest in Saildrone?
- Saildrone is a private company; its shares are not available on public markets, so retail investors cannot buy the stock today.
- Where is Saildrone headquartered?
- Saildrone is headquartered in Alameda, California, USA.
- Who owns Saildrone?
- Saildrone is privately held; ownership sits with its founders and private investors.
- Where does Saildrone operate robots?
- Saildrone is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.
- Is Saildrone a top robotics company?
- On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, Saildrone ranks in roughly the top 14% of companies tracked by the registry.
- When was Saildrone founded?
- Saildrone was founded in 2012.
- Is Saildrone safe?
- Saildrone has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-18
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-18
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 1
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Saildrone.Peer companies
- Saronic Technologies4 models
- BAE Systems3 models
- Kongsberg Maritime3 models
- Rekise Marine3 models
- Sea Machines Robotics2 models
- SubSea Craft2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Saildrone from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Navy to Deploy Thousands of Unmanned Surface Vessels to the Indo-Pacific by 2030
The U.S. Navy announced plans to deploy thousands of unmanned surface vessels to the Indo-Pacific by 2030, accelerating USV production and deployment as part of a strategic…
A Step Towards a Quantified Planet: Announcing Our $60 Million Series B Funding
Saildrone raised $60M in Series B funding, bringing total funding to almost $90M, to scale its fleet of autonomous wind and solar-powered ocean drones for global data collection.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/saildrone.md
- RSS feed: /companies/saildrone/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/cf9ac30f-cbfb-4469-96ef-452e4f16f920
- Revision history: /companies/saildrone/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Saronic Technologies4 models
- BAE Systems3 models
- Kongsberg Maritime3 models
- Rekise Marine3 models
- Sea Machines Robotics2 models
- SubSea Craft2 models
Video
A fleet of unmanned surface vehicles equipped with AI and a suite of scientific sensors are currently mapping the ocean floor, counting fish populations and monitoring ocean and weather conditions all over the planet in
Saildrone is modernizing maritime domain awareness, delivering decisive tactical and strategic advantage for national security and law enforcement at sea throug
In this theCUBE + NYSE Wired segment, John Mustin, president of Saildrone, joins theCUBE’s John Furrier to discuss how the company is redefining maritime survei
ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA — A Bay Area startup that builds autonomous ocean data collecting vessels launches its largest ship this week, the Saildrone Surveyor. The
Saildrone presents latest information about their technologies at ANTX 2021
In a groundbreaking mission reminiscent of "Interstellar," Saildrone has ventured 18,000 feet below the Atlantic to map the ocean floor with unprecedented preci
Saildrone robots are surveying the ocean and collecting weather data
Reality vs attention
Saildrone draws attention at the 77th percentile but verifies reality at the 88th percentile among maritime_surface robots. Hype Gap -11.1, 10th widest among maritime_surface robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 2 verified deployments. Well-capitalized with $284M raised and recent funding activity. Thin IP estate relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Jul 19, 2026