Ep 58: Blue Water Raises $50M to Deliver Maritime Autonomy to the Navy

Case Study: Blue Water Autonomy's Lightning-Fast Series A

About the Guests

Rylan Hamilton is Co-founder and CEO of Blue Water Autonomy, bringing a unique combination of naval service and commercial robotics expertise. After his Navy career, Hamilton spent years in the commercial robotics space focusing on warehouse and logistics automation, giving him deep understanding of both military requirements and commercial-scale robotics deployment.

Austin Gray is Co-founder of Blue Water Autonomy and a prominent voice in the maritime autonomy and defense technology movement. Gray combines operational understanding of defense acquisition challenges with strategic thinking about how commercial innovation can reshape military capabilities.

About Blue Water Autonomy

Blue Water Autonomy is developing medium unmanned surface vessels specifically designed for U.S. Navy operations. Based outside Boston, the company is building on the region's robotics expertise, drawing talent from successful companies like Amazon Robotics and iRobot.

Their vessels are approximately half a football field in length - large enough for cross-ocean operations but small enough to be manufactured at dozens of mid-tier shipyards rather than requiring major naval facilities. The company focuses on creating "attritable" platforms that balance capability with cost-effectiveness, designed around cost-to-kill ratios rather than pure survivability.

The team has grown rapidly from stealth to over 50 employees, including key hires like COO Tim Glinatsis (20+ years in naval shipbuilding) and ship designer Ryan Maatta (formerly on a DARPA autonomous ship program).

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