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Monitoring the ocean normally requires ships, crews, and millions of dollars, so this startup built autonomous boats that can do it for us without anyone on board. The company is called Sail Drone and it builds autonomous vessels that can spend months at sea collecting data. Instead of carrying a crew, these boats are packed with cameras, radars, sonar, and other sensors that can track everything from weather and ocean conditions to ships moving across the water. And because some models use wind and solar power, they can travel enormous distances while requiring far less fuel and manpower than a traditional research vessel. Sail Drone originally built the technology to collect scientific data, working with organizations like NOAA and NASA. But then, the US military realized the same technology could be extremely useful for surveillance. Today, Sail Drone works with the US Navy to autonomously patrol massive areas of ocean and identify vessels without putting sailors on board. And that has transformed the company from an ocean data startup into a rapidly growing defense company. Sakura estimates Sail Drone generated around $43 million in 2024, growing 231% year-over-year. If autonomous drones can monitor the skies, Sail Drone is betting autonomous boats can do the same thing for the ocean.

Monitoring the ocean normally requires ships, crews, and millions of dollars, so this startup built autonomous boats that can do it for us without anyone on bo…