Seahi Robotics raises $148M in record marine-robotics deal
Seahi Robotics, the Suzhou-based Chinese startup building autonomous marine robots, has raised more than 1 billion yuan ($148M) across pre-Series A and Series A rounds — reportedly the largest single financing ever completed in the global ocean-robotics sector.
New investors included River Motion Capital, Temasek-backed Vertex Growth, and Broad Ocean Motor. Existing backer GSR Ventures increased its stake for a fifth consecutive round, while returning investors Vertex Ventures China, Meridian Capital and Long Capital also participated. An earlier angel+ round was led by China Merchants Startup, the private-equity arm of China Merchants Group.
Founded in May 2023, the company started out tackling biofouling — the build-up of barnacles, algae and other organisms on ship hulls — with robotic hull cleaning for oceangoing vessels. It has since expanded into offshore wind farms, marine solar installations and subsea pipeline inspection, and is preparing to launch Ceorion, which it describes as the world's first large-scale AI foundation model for marine embodied intelligence.
Biofouling can raise a vessel's fuel use by 30% to 50% annually, and fuel accounts for more than half of operating expenses for many shipping companies. The International Maritime Organization has flagged biofouling management as key to vessel carbon-intensity performance and is expected to introduce binding rules before 2029 — opening a growing market for underwater robots over costly, hazardous diver-led cleaning.
The deal reflects investor appetite shifting toward embodied AI with clear industrial use cases, even as enthusiasm cools in parts of humanoid robotics. GSR's Zhu Xiaohu — who publicly exited many humanoid-robot bets — kept backing Seahi, citing genuine customer demand in shipping and offshore energy.
Read more: The Yangtzeer · 36Kr
