Saronic raises $600 million Series C at $4 billion valuation for autonomous warships

AUSTIN — Saronic Technologies, which builds AI-enabled autonomous surface vessels for the U.S. Navy and allied militaries, has closed a $600 million Series C round that values the Austin company at $4 billion.

The round was led by investor Elad Gil and welcomed General Catalyst as a new backer, with continued support from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Caffeinated Capital and 8VC. The raise quadrupled Saronic's valuation roughly seven months after it first reached unicorn status.

Saronic said it will use the capital to build Port Alpha, a next-generation shipyard designed to turn out new classes of autonomous ships at the speed and scale the company argues modern naval competition demands.

Why it matters

Defense technology has become one of Austin's fastest-rising venture categories, and Saronic's trajectory — from unicorn to a $4 billion valuation in under a year — shows how aggressively capital is flowing toward companies promising to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding capacity. The Port Alpha plan also pushes Saronic from software-and-drones into heavy industrial manufacturing.

The company later went on to raise a far larger Series D, underscoring how quickly investor appetite for autonomous maritime systems has escalated.