Marine robotics startup Rekise Marine has successfully raised $9.7 million (approximately ₹92 crore) in a seed funding round. According to reports from PTI, the round was led by Accel and Nikhil Kamath's investment firm NKSquared. The funding round saw participation from prominent investors including Sameer Brij Verma, Sandeep Singhal, Industrial47, and Singularity AMC, alongside the company's founders and several family offices. This funding will help develop autonomous vessels that can assist the Indian Navy in various sea operations, supporting India's push for self-reliance in defense technology to reduce dependence on foreign equipment.
Founded by naval architect Maitrai Maka in 2017, Rekise Marine operates on the belief that autonomy will fundamentally reshape the maritime domain. As reported by PTI, the company develops autonomous surface and underwater vessels through a full-stack strategy combining vessel design, systems integration, and autonomy software developed in-house. The software platform powers vessels of every class, from small man-portable vessels to extra-large submarines, allowing capabilities to be deployed across platforms with minimal reconfiguration. Autonomous marine robots can perform risky tasks like surveillance and mine detection without putting sailors in danger, supporting the wider blue economy by improving safety and efficiency in maritime activities.
According to the company release, Rekise Marine builds and integrates its vessels in-house, working with India's premier shipyards including Goa Shipyard Limited and GRSE Limited. The company's portfolio includes Jaldoot, an autonomous surface vessel already delivered to customers, Swadheen, an autonomous survey vessel that has undergone fully autonomous open-sea trials, and a man-portable autonomous underwater vehicle currently in trials built in collaboration with GRSE and GSL shipyards respectively. At the top of the company's portfolio is Jalkapi, roughly 11 metres long and 20 tonnes with a mission endurance of up to 45 days. As per Rekise Marine, the company designs the vessel, its sensors and its software as one integrated system rather than bolting them together later, making their approach repeatable through their growing team.
The company plans to use the raised capital to complete and sea-trial Jalkapi, deepen its in-house autonomy software, and significantly expand its engineering team across robotics, AI/ML, embedded systems, platform systems integration, naval architecture, and crews that test and operate new platforms at sea. According to PTI, the funding will accelerate product development and team expansion, with the company building autonomous ships and submarines while focusing on sensors and hardware that feed the autonomy system. Nikhil Kamath from NKSquared emphasized that India has built warships and submarines for decades and produces world-class engineering talent, making maritime autonomy the capability it now needs to own. The successful deployment could position India as a key player in global marine robotics markets while benefiting everyday people through stronger coastal security and better protection of marine resources.
