Triton Depth raises €1M to build an acoustic sensor net for Europe's seabed

Danish defencetech startup Triton Depth has raised a €1 million pre-seed round led by EIFO and The Creator Fund. The Copenhagen-based company is building a network of passive acoustic sensors to detect and classify underwater activity, including drones and uncrewed vessels.

Triton Depth said hybrid threats are increasingly moving underwater. It cited the sabotage of subsea cables in the Baltic Sea, undersea mines disrupting energy supplies in Hormuz, and covert vessels operating without transponders or with false location data.

The system is built around small autonomous sensors, called Triton Nodes, deployed across the seabed and within the water column for long-duration missions. An onboard AI model analyses acoustic signatures in real time, classifies vessels or objects, and sends operators alerts.

EIFO is Denmark's export and investment fund; The Creator Fund backs deeptech spun out of universities. "At a time when Europe needs to build stronger capabilities in critical defence technologies, underwater awareness is becoming a strategic necessity," said Sara Sande, managing director, partner and head of thematic venture investments at EIFO.

Governments and infrastructure operators face growing pressure to secure coastal and subsea assets, from the Baltic to the Arctic. "Humanity has better maps of Mars than of the ocean floor," said Jamie Macfarlane, chief executive officer of The Creator Fund, adding that the winning company "will be the one that builds the strongest acoustic data advantage."