Key facts
- Rekise Marine secured $9.7 million in a funding round led by Accel and NKSquared.
- The startup develops autonomous surface and underwater vessels for naval applications.
- The funding will be used to expand engineering talent and advance product development.
- Rekise Marine's portfolio includes autonomous surface vessels and underwater vehicles.
- The company's flagship product is Jalkapi, an autonomous submarine under construction.
Bengaluru-based defense technology startup Rekise Marine has successfully raised $9.7 million in a funding round spearheaded by Accel and NKSquared, the investment firm founded by entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath. The capital infusion is intended to accelerate the development of autonomous ships and submarines for the Indian Navy.
The funding round also saw participation from notable investors including Sameer Brij Verma, formerly of Nexus Venture Partners, and Sandeep Singhal, co-founder of WestBridge Capital. Additional backing came from Industrial47, Singularity AMC, and a consortium of founder-operators and family offices.
Founded by naval architect Maitrai Maka, Rekise Marine specializes in creating autonomous surface and underwater vessels. Their full-stack approach encompasses vessel design, systems integration, and the development of autonomy software. Maka, who possesses over a decade of experience in marine robotic systems, co-founded the company with Rear Admiral Shekhar Mital (Retd), a former chairman and managing director of Goa Shipyard Limited and director general of the Submarine Design Group, who now oversees shipbuilding partnerships and program governance.
Maka highlighted the evolving landscape of naval power, noting the shift from large, crew-intensive platforms to smaller, unmanned autonomous systems driven by AI. He emphasized that autonomous fleets can be deployed at scale and produced more rapidly than traditional naval assets, offering a strategic advantage even with potential losses.
The startup aims to leverage India's shipbuilding capabilities and engineering talent to build sovereign autonomy technologies. Rekise Marine currently has four products in deployment or trial phases, including Jaldoot, an autonomous surface vessel delivered to DRDO, and Swadheen, an autonomous survey vessel that completed sea trials. Their underwater portfolio includes a man-portable autonomous underwater vehicle for mine countermeasures and Jalkapi, their flagship autonomous submarine currently under construction, with field activities expected to commence later this year.
A key differentiator for Rekise Marine is its common software architecture, adaptable across platforms ranging from small underwater vehicles to large autonomous submarines. This allows for rapid iteration and customization to meet Navy requirements. The company, which employs 55 people across Bengaluru, Goa, and Kolkata, plans significant hiring in robotics, AI, embedded systems, naval architecture, and sea operations.
This funding round aligns with increasing investor interest in defense and deeptech startups, driven by India's focus on indigenization in strategic sectors and its expanding maritime ambitions. The capital will be instrumental in growing the engineering team and advancing the development and testing of Jalkapi, an extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle being developed under the Indian Navy's iDEX ADITI program.