Bubble Robotics raises 5 million dollars in pre-seed funding

(CONNECT) Bubble Robotics GmbH has closed a pre-seed financing round of 5 million dollars, according to a statement. The round was led by Episode 1 Ventures, Asterion Ventures and Norrsken Evolve. Bubble Robotics develops stationary autonomous systems that operate around the clock at sea and carry out continuous inspections, monitoring and data collection. The fresh funding will be used to expand the engineering team in Europe and the USA and to carry out initial tests under real conditions.

With its autonomous systems, Bubble addresses central challenges of the industry on the high seas, which plays a key role in the energy transition, global data flows and international trade, according to the company. Operations on the high seas are currently hardly scalable due to the high costs for ships, crews and heavy equipment. At the same time, the industry is facing a structural shortage of skilled workers: according to the company, around 600,000 additional skilled workers will be needed in the energy sector alone by 2030. With Bubble's autonomous systems, the industry can reduce costs on the high seas, counter the shortage of skilled workers and increase the frequency of inspections and data coverage.

"Today, 80 to 90 percent of the costs for offshore inspections are attributable to ships and crews. By reducing this dependency, we are achieving fundamental progress in terms of costs, safety and frequency of use. What used to be done selectively is now possible on a continuous basis," says Jean Crosetti, CEO and co-founder of Bubble Robotics.

Bubble Robotics was founded by former robotics engineers from the US space agency NASA and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Bubble is building a fleet of intelligent robotic systems that can operate continuously at sea for months without human intervention. ce/ja