British-founded maritime defence company Kraken Technology Group has secured $175 million in Series B funding, becoming one of the UK's newest defence unicorns. The recent investment will go towards expanding Kraken's manufacturing facilities around the world.
- Founded in 2020, Kraken develops uncrewed maritime systems, including autonomous surface vessels and advances maritime platforms for defence and commercial applications.
- The company's technologies are designed for missions such as surveillance, logistics, mine countermeasures, and force protection.
- The investment round was led by DTCP and backed by the British Business Bank, NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), Rheinmetall, Inocea Group, as well as VC firms HICO, Thesiger Capital Group, BOKA Capital, Supernova Invest, and Hakluyt Capital.
- Existing investors, including NIF, the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), SmartCap, Notion Capital, and Speedinvest, also converted their earlier investments into equity.
- Over the past year, Kraken has secured major contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence, NATO European partners, and the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). The company says its platforms are already deployed in support of multiple ongoing conflicts.
- It has also established manufacturing partnerships with Rheinmetall in Germany, Anduril Industries in the US, and Inocea’s Davie Shipbuilding in Canada, with additional partnerships in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific regions to be announced soon.
