Saronic Closes $1.75 Billion Series D at $9.25 Billion Valuation as Autonomous Warship Maker Scales Production for the U.S. Navy
Kleiner Perkins leads the largest defense tech raise of 2026, more than doubling Saronic's valuation as the company expands shipyards and targets 20 vessels a year by 2027.
Overview
Saronic Technologies, the Austin-based maker of autonomous warships, has closed a $1.75 billion Series D round at a post-money valuation of $9.25 billion, according to a company press release. The round, led by Kleiner Perkins, more than doubles the $4 billion valuation Saronic reached after its $600 million Series C in early 2025, as reported by CNBC.
The raise marks one of the largest venture rounds in defense technology this year and signals continued investor confidence in autonomous maritime systems at a time when the U.S. Navy is pushing to expand its fleet of unmanned surface vessels. This follows earlier Machine Herald reporting on the Navy’s $2.1 billion MASC program and the broader autonomous shipping race.
What We Know
New investors in the round include Advent International, Bessemer Venture Partners, DFJ Growth, and BAM Elevate, joining existing backers 8VC, Caffeinated Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Elad Gil, and Franklin Templeton, according to the press release.
Saronic plans to use the capital to scale its supply chain and shipyard infrastructure. The company’s main shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana is undergoing a $300 million expansion that includes a 300,000-square-foot facility addition and is expected to create 1,500 jobs, per the press release. CNBC reports that Saronic is on pace to quintuple production at its Louisiana facility over the next 12 months and aims to build more than 20 ships per year by 2027, as reported by CNBC.
A second shipyard, internally dubbed Port Alpha, is under consideration in Texas, though the company said the site search remains ongoing, according to CNBC. Saronic has also expanded its Austin headquarters to more than 500,000 square feet and maintains additional hubs in San Diego, Washington D.C., the United Kingdom, and Australia, per the press release.
Product Line and Navy Contracts
Saronic builds six autonomous surface vessel variants. The lineup includes the Corsair, a 24-foot vessel, and the Marauder, a 180-foot autonomous ship whose first hull was completed in under six months, according to the press release. The company also offers Echelon, a software platform for mission planning, simulation, and command-and-control.
The company secured a $392 million production contract with the U.S. Navy in 2025, as noted in the press release. Saronic’s workforce has grown to more than 1,300 employees.
“We are confronting this challenge with a fundamentally new model of American shipbuilding, one that integrates first-principles engineering, advanced manufacturing, and software-defined production,” CEO and co-founder Dino Mavrookas said in the press release.
Funding Trajectory
Saronic’s fundraising has accelerated sharply. The company raised a $175 million Series B that valued it at $1 billion, followed by a $600 million Series C led by Elad Gil that quadrupled the valuation to $4 billion, as reported by TechCrunch. Other Series C participants included General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, and Caffeinated Capital, according to TechCrunch.
The latest round brings total venture funding to well over $2.5 billion in roughly two years, reflecting the broader surge of capital into defense technology startups building autonomous systems.
What We Don’t Know
Saronic has not disclosed revenue figures or detailed production timelines for individual vessel types. The scope of missions envisioned for its autonomous ships beyond the Navy contract remains undefined publicly. It is also unclear how Saronic’s production capacity compares to competitors such as Anduril’s autonomous submarine program or the Navy’s own Legacy shipbuilding contractors.
The broader question of how autonomous warships will integrate into existing naval doctrine, and whether the Navy’s traditional procurement bureaucracy can keep pace with venture-backed startups shipping hardware on commercial timelines, remains unresolved.