Israeli autonomous shipping startup, Orca AI, raised $23 million in a Series B funding round, led by OCV Partners and Mizmaa Ventures, with participation from Ankona Capital Partners, Santa Barbara Venture Partners, Playfair Capital, and other strategic investors.
Orca AI integrates autonomous operational and voyage features into existing vessels. In 2022, it powered the world's first autonomous commercial ship voyage with NYK and is now gearing up for the next phase of fully autonomous ship technology set to debut in 2025.
Founded in 2018 by Yarden Gross and Dor Raviv, Orca AI’s platform enhances voyage safety, operational efficiency, and sustainability for ships and fleets. Upfitting vessels with an automated watchkeeper that processes multiple sources of visual information during sea navigation, it enhances human watchkeeping in complex marine traffic scenarios, in real-time.
In 2023, Orca AI partnered with major global shipping companies including MSC, NYK, Maersk, and Seaspan, reducing close encounters by 33% and crossing events by 40% over 15 million nautical miles. This partnership is particularly significant considering there were over 2,500 major marine incidents in the same year.
Orca AI's autonomous shipping technology detects and alerts crews to high-risk marine targets, optimizing operations to avoid unnecessary maneuvers and speed drops, thereby reducing fuel consumption and emissions. This has led to an average annual fuel savings of $100,000 to $300,000 per vessel (a 3-5% reduction) and a reduction of 172 thousand tonnes of CO2 emissions last year.
Related to recent current events, Orca AI empowers vessels to proactively mitigate threats such as drone attacks and piracy, enhancing security for crews and protecting sensitive cargo. Over the last eight months, Yemen's Houthi terror group have waged war on vessels navigating the Red sea and Gulf of Aden, through hijacking and targeting with explosive-ladden drones or missiles, severely altering global shipping routes, and ensuing global supply chains.
With orders for the platform set to surpass 1,000 vessels, the new funding will enable Orca AI to invest in technology, expand internationally, and contribute significantly to reducing maritime carbon emissions while improving navigational safety and efficiency.
This round brings their total funding close to $40 million. Their Series A funding round closed in 2021 at $13 million, led again by OCV Partners.
