Bubble Robotics, has introduced a $5 million pre-seed spherical led by Episode 1 Ventures, Asterion Ventures, and Norrsken Evolve, following its launch out of Entrepreneurs First.
Based in 2025 by former robotics engineers from NASA and ETH Zürich, Bubble is constructing the ocean’s autonomous workforce: a fleet of clever robotic methods able to working repeatedly at sea for months, with out the necessity for human intervention.
The ocean is the following frontier, however it’s basically inaccessible
The ocean sits on the heart of twenty first century challenges. It powers vitality transition, carries international knowledge flows, delivers two-thirds of world commerce, and underpins local weather resilience. But the way in which we function offshore has not modified in many years.
As we speak, offshore operations depend on vessels, crews, and heavy tools costing as much as $100,000 per day. This mannequin is dear, harmful and unscalable.
On the similar time, the business faces a structural workforce scarcity, with 600,000 extra professionals wanted by 2030 within the vitality sector alone.
Bubble’s thesis is easy: offshore operations shouldn’t require people at sea.
As a substitute of episodic, vessel-based missions, Bubble deploys resident autonomous methods that keep at sea for twenty-four/7/365, repeatedly inspecting, monitoring, and gathering knowledge.
Constructing the ocean’s autonomous workforce
“As we speak, 80 to 90 p.c of offshore inspection prices come from vessels and crews,” mentioned Jean Crosetti, CEO and co-founder of Bubble Robotics. “By eradicating that dependency, we unlock a step change in price, security, and operational frequency. What was once episodic turns into steady.”
Advances in robotics, edge AI, and satellite tv for pc connectivity have reached an inflection level. For the primary time, it’s doable to deploy persistent, autonomous methods at sea that may understand, determine, and act with minimal human oversight.
Past industrial operations, the identical constraints apply to maritime safety and significant infrastructure monitoring. Subsea cables, ports, and offshore vitality property are more and more uncovered, but stay largely unmonitored in actual time.
Persistent autonomous methods allow a brand new mannequin of steady presence at sea, permitting operators to detect anomalies, monitor delicate zones, and safe infrastructure with out counting on human deployments.
Value efficient, secure, data-lead
Bubble operates underneath a robotics-as-a-service mannequin, offering full operational functionality with out upfront CAPEX or offshore mobilization.
This enables industrial operators to concurrently: cut back prices, handle workforce shortages, enhance inspection frequency and knowledge protection.
The options developed by Bubble present concrete solutions to an unlimited array of commercial wants:
- Power and assets: the methods unlocks simpler monitoring and inspection of foundations, cables, pipes and generators, in addition to structural mapping, non-destructive testing, and millimeter-scale seabed surveys
- Local weather and biodiversity: facilitates benthic mapping, photogrammetry, long-term ecosystem monitoring, and biofouling monitoring
- Maritime safety and protection: the know-how permits detection of acoustic anomalies and of unexploded ordnance (UXO), mine countermeasures, steady surveillance, and underwater safety
Impressed by satellite tv for pc constellations offering steady Earth remark, Bubble Robotics is deploying a widespread infrastructure of robots designed to gather and elaborate complicated high-frequency underwater knowledge, paving the way in which for a brand new normal in understanding and effectively managing oceans environments.
From supporting expertise to realising potential
Bubble Robotics began its journey in 2025 inside Entrepreneur First, the worldwide expertise investor guiding founders within the early phases of the event of progressive tech startups.
Alice Bentinck, co-founder of Entrepreneurs First, mentioned: “Certainly one of EF’s distinctive strengths is creating the atmosphere for distinctive people to fulfill and construct nice firms.
“Patricia and Jean shaped a group at our kick-off weekend round a shared perception and complementary skillset: Patricia with world-class technical credibility in robotics, Jean with uncommon industrial intuition and depth.
“Their tempo of iteration all through the programme and powerful buyer obsession make Bubble Robotics an organization to look at intently.”
As a testomony to EF’s help, Bubble is already seeing sturdy market pull, with over $4 million in signed letters of intent and upcoming deployments throughout offshore wind, maritime safety, and subsea infrastructure.
Past constructing robots, Bubble is deploying a brand new layer of autonomous infrastructure for the ocean, powering essentially the most superior mannequin of the underwater world.
