Marine technology company RAD has closed a £4.4 million funding round.
The UK-based company, which develops advanced electric propulsion systems and autonomous vessel technologies says the funding will aid the company in its next phase of growth.
RAD says the round reflects confidence in its ability to translate complex marine technology challenges into scalable products and platforms for defence and commercial markets.
Over the past year, RAD has delivered major customer programmes, expanded its product portfolio, and launched Axon, its open systems architecture for uncrewed and autonomous vessels.
Axon enables boat builders and operators to develop, integrate and deploy uncrewed vessel capabilities while maintaining flexibility over autonomy and mission software providers.
Flexible vessel architectures
“Autonomous marine systems are moving rapidly from concept to deployment, and the response to our Axon launch confirmed that RAD is well placed to capture this opportunity,” said Rich Daltry, RAD co-CEO and founder.
“We believe the industry is moving towards open, flexible vessel architectures that allow systems, autonomy software and mission applications to evolve independently.”
He added: “This funding gives us the runway to scale commercially, grow our electric propulsion systems portfolio and expand into key international markets.
“We’re grateful to both our new and existing investors for their continued belief in what we’re building.”
Electrification
Ruth Coleman, investment manager at Mercia Ventures which led the funding round, explained that the marine industry is expected to go through the same shift as road transport in terms of electrification.
“RAD is building the platform for it for manned and autonomous vessels alike,” she said.
Proceeds from the additional funding will support several priorities including international expansion, with RAD appointing its first US based employee and building a presence in key international markets.
In addition, RAD will use the investment to continue the commercialisation of its Axon system and continue expanding its product portfolio alongside its applications, engineering and delivery capability.
