VVC Announces Fund II Investment in Vatn Systems, Supporting a New Era of Scalable Undersea Autonomy

Written By Craig Jaques

McLean, VA — Dec. 10, 2025 — Veteran Ventures Capital (VVC) today announced its participation in the $60 million Series A financing of Vatn Systems (Vatn), a rapidly emerging leader in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology for U.S. and allied defense customers. The investment marks Vatn’s entry into the VVC Fund II portfolio, underscoring the firm’s growing focus on scalable, dual-use autonomous systems that strengthen national security. The oversubscribed Series A round assembled a premier group of investors. Alongside Veteran Ventures Capital, we are partnering with a syndicate that includes Airbus Ventures, BVVC, Cubit Capital, Decisive Point, DYNE Ventures, Hanwha, Lockheed Martin Ventures, SAIC Ventures, RTX Ventures, and In-Q-Tel (amongst others) — a coalition that reflects the strategic significance and urgency of Vatn Systems’ mission.

Founded in Rhode Island by lifelong maritime practitioners and seasoned defense engineers, Vatn is redefining how undersea missions are conducted. The company develops low-cost, modular AUVs designed to operate in large numbers, enabling distributed sensing, rapid Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), mine countermeasures, and emerging undersea effects missions. Vatn’s platforms leverage a proprietary inertial navigation system and plug-and-play payload architecture, allowing operators to rapidly tailor vehicles for military, commercial, and scientific applications.

“Vatn exemplifies the kind of mission-driven innovation VVC was created to support,” said Derren Burrell, Founder and Managing Partner of Veteran Ventures Capital. “Their team is fielding the undersea mass our national security enterprise urgently needs, and they’re doing it with a level of technical rigor and operational intuition that’s rare in this sector. We’re proud to partner with BVVC, and to join Lockheed Martin Ventures, SAIC Ventures, Airbus Ventures, and other strategic investors who recognize the decisive advantage Vatn brings to the undersea domain.”

“We’re honored to partner with Veteran Ventures Capital,” said Nelson Mills, CEO and co-founder of Vatn Systems. “Their team understands the pace and demands of the national security landscape, and they bring the operational and strategic insight that companies in this sector need as they scale. This investment accelerates our ability to build and deliver undersea mass for customers who require reliable, rapidly deployable systems at a fraction of the cost.”

Vatn Systems has demonstrated rapid technical and commercial progress throughout 2025, delivering vehicles to U.S. government customers, conducting successful open-water demonstrations, and expanding production capacity to meet accelerating demand. The company’s modular design philosophy allows new mission profiles to be integrated in days rather than months — an advantage that resonates across defense, offshore energy, port security, and environmental monitoring.

“Vatn represents exactly the kind of founder-led ingenuity we seek to back,” said Craig Jaques, General Partner at Veteran Ventures Capital. “Their team has blended deep ocean experience with modern autonomy and manufacturing discipline, resulting in undersea systems that can be produced affordably and deployed at scale. As naval operations shift toward attritable, unmanned architectures, Vatn is exceptionally well positioned to become a category-defining player.”

Beyond its defense mission set, Vatn’s technology opens meaningful opportunities in civilian markets. Low-cost AUVs enable more persistent monitoring of coastal infrastructure, improved maritime domain awareness, expanded access for scientific research, and new tools for environmental stewardship—all areas where demand is growing as ocean resources become increasingly vital and contested.

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Craig Jaques
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