Online Oceans, a startup building autonomous surface vessels and fleet software for defence and maritime security, has raised £4 million in funding led by Seraphim Space, with participation from Peter Rive, Frank Thieser, Florian Seibel and Koro Capital. It develops autonomous maritime systems that allow operators to deploy connected fleets for missions including anti-submarine warfare, protection of subsea infrastructure, border security and counter-drug smuggling. The funding will be used to scale manufacturing, support deployments and expand the company’s ability to serve growing demand across defence and commercial markets.
Maritime security is becoming more urgent as governments and operators face rising pressure to protect critical waters, monitor strategic chokepoints and secure subsea infrastructure. Persistent coverage remains prohibitively expensive with existing systems, which rely on crewed vessels with high operating costs or autonomous systems too expensive to deploy in dense fleets. Online Oceans has designed its system around low unit cost, long endurance and continuous connectivity, enabling dense fleets that provide continuous rather than intermittent coverage.
At the centre of the offering is Scout, a compact solar-powered autonomous surface vessel designed for persistent deployment at scale, paired with Tether, a cloud-based command-and-control platform. Operators can manage missions, monitor assets and access data in real time, allowing a shift from occasional, high-cost missions to continuous maritime coverage. The system also supports recurring software and data revenues.
Founded in early 2025 by George Morton and Alistair Douglas, the team has moved from first builds to production ramp in little over a year. The business has secured initial customers across defence, maritime domain awareness and ocean data, begun first data sales, and sold out the first few months of production ahead of commercial deliveries in April 2026.
Persistent maritime coverage has been too expensive for too long. That has limited what governments and operators can actually see, protect and respond to at sea. We built Online Oceans to change that. This funding allows us to scale production and support customers who need a far more practical way to monitor critical waters, protect infrastructure and maintain awareness over long periods.
Online Oceans is building a category-defining company at the intersection of defence, maritime autonomy and data. The breakthrough here is not just a lower-cost vessel. It is a new coverage model: dense, persistent fleets that can monitor critical waters continuously rather than sporadically. What impressed us was not just the technical insight, but the speed of execution. In little over a year, the team has moved from founding to production ramp, early customer traction and first data sales. We believe they have the potential to build a global leader in this category.
