Kraken Technology hits $1 billion valuation after raising $175 million for autonomous naval drones
The UK startup builds unmanned boats and submarines for NATO and special-operations forces. Fresh funding will push production to four continents.
Key points
- Kraken Technology Group raised $175 million in Series B funding in July 2025, reaching a valuation of $1 billion.
- European investment firm DTCP led the round, joined by the NATO Innovation Fund, Rheinmetall, and the UK's National Security Strategic Investment Fund.
- The company has already delivered autonomous vessels under contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence, NATO partners, and US Special Operations Command.
- Kraken's three platforms can carry out surveillance, precision strikes, logistics supply runs, and anti-submarine patrols without a crew on board.
- Manufacturing partnerships with Rheinmetall in Germany, Anduril Industries in the US, and Davie Shipbuilding in Canada will support rapid global production.
A British startup that builds crewless military boats just crossed the $1 billion company valuation mark. Kraken Technology Group, based in Fareham on England's south coast, announced a $175 million Series B funding round this month, money it plans to use to build more autonomous, meaning self-operating, naval vessels for Western defence forces.
DTCP (Digital Transformation Capital Partners), a European investment firm, led the raise. Backers also included the NATO Innovation Fund, British defence manufacturer Rheinmetall, and the UK's National Security Strategic Investment Fund, a government pot set up specifically to fund companies with defence and security applications.
What does Kraken actually make?
Three platforms, each designed for a different job. The K3 SCOUT is a modular uncrewed surface vessel, essentially a crewless boat that can be fitted with different equipment depending on the mission. The K4 MANTA is an uncrewed subsurface vessel, a drone submarine that runs quietly below the waterline. The K5 Kraken is a larger, high-payload surface vessel built to carry heavier equipment.
All three can operate without anyone on board. Their listed tasks include gathering intelligence, delivering precision strikes, running logistics, and hunting enemy submarines.
Who is already buying them?
Contracts are already live. Kraken secured several deals last year with the UK Ministry of Defence, NATO European partners, and USSOCOM (US Special Operations Command, the branch of the US military that runs covert missions). The company says its vessels have been deployed in active conflict zones, though it has not named them publicly.
Founded in 2020, Kraken is five years old and already operating at a pace that older defence primes took decades to reach. It is not connected to the separately traded company Kraken Robotics, a Canadian underwater-sensor firm with a similar name.
What happens to the funding?
The money goes into two things: faster production and better payloads. Kraken already has manufacturing agreements with Rheinmetall in Germany, Anduril Industries in the US, and Inocea's Davie Shipbuilding in Canada. Similar partnerships in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific are described as forthcoming.
CEO Mal Crease said the round would enable deployment of its vessels "for NATO and its worldwide partners at an unprecedented scale in the maritime domain."
DTCP partner Ole Aguirre, quoted by The Robot Report, called the maritime sector "profoundly under-invested" and praised Kraken's speed in responding to NATO requirements.
For ordinary citizens in NATO countries, the practical effect is more crewless patrol boats guarding coastlines, ports, and offshore energy installations, doing jobs that currently require sailors and carry human risk.
