Booz Allen Hamilton Invests in Ulysses to Strengthen Maritime Autonomy and Undersea Robotics Capabilities
Booz Allen Hamilton has announced a strategic investment in Ulysses, a San Francisco-based maritime robotics company focused on building cost-efficient autonomous surface and underwater vehicles. The investment was made through Booz Allen Ventures, the company’s corporate venture capital arm, and reflects the growing importance of unmanned maritime systems in defense, security, and commercial operations.
The move comes at a time when governments and private organizations worldwide are increasing demand for scalable, lower-cost autonomous solutions capable of operating in challenging ocean environments. By supporting Ulysses, Booz Allen aims to enhance its portfolio of advanced maritime technologies and strengthen its ability to deliver next-generation solutions for customers operating across naval and maritime domains.
Growing Need for Autonomous Maritime Systems
The maritime sector is undergoing a technological transformation similar to what has already taken place in aviation, land mobility, and space operations. Autonomous systems are increasingly being seen as a critical tool for surveillance, reconnaissance, logistics, infrastructure inspection, environmental monitoring, and defense missions.
Traditional maritime operations often rely on crewed vessels, which can be expensive to deploy and maintain. Operating costs for ships and specialized marine platforms can reach tens of thousands of dollars per day, limiting the scale and frequency of missions. In contrast, autonomous systems can operate with lower manpower requirements, reduced risk to personnel, and significantly lower operating expenses.
This makes unmanned maritime platforms especially valuable for persistent operations such as undersea surveillance, mine detection, seabed mapping, offshore infrastructure inspection, and long-duration patrol missions.
Booz Allen’s investment in Ulysses is designed to position the firm at the forefront of this transition.
Why Ulysses Matters
Ulysses develops autonomous surface vessels and underwater vehicles engineered for high-volume, cost-efficient deployment. Its systems are designed to function in complex and demanding maritime environments while remaining affordable enough for widespread use.
The company combines durable and efficient hardware platforms with advanced onboard computing systems. These systems enable higher levels of autonomy, mission flexibility, and adaptive decision-making. As a result, operators can deploy fleets of vehicles rather than relying on a small number of expensive assets.
This fleet-based model creates opportunities for new operational concepts, including coordinated swarming missions, distributed sensing networks, rapid survey operations, and autonomous responses in hazardous areas.
For defense organizations and commercial operators alike, this could dramatically improve mission reach while lowering costs.
Booz Allen’s Strategic Vision
Jennie Brooks, executive vice president at Booz Allen and a leader of the company’s Navy-Marine Corps portfolio, emphasized the growing need for scalable undersea systems.
According to Brooks, maritime forces increasingly require affordable autonomous solutions capable of integrating into the Navy’s future hybrid fleet, where crewed and uncrewed systems operate together. She noted that combining Ulysses’ platform technology with Booz Allen’s mission expertise could help deliver advanced undersea capabilities faster, at larger scale, and at lower cost.
That statement highlights an important trend in military modernization. Rather than replacing traditional ships and submarines outright, future fleets are expected to include a mix of manned vessels supported by autonomous systems that expand sensing, reach, and mission effectiveness.
Booz Allen has already established itself as a major technology and consulting partner to U.S. defense agencies. Adding Ulysses’ autonomous maritime systems strengthens the company’s ability to support customers pursuing these future fleet strategies.
Applications Across Defense Missions
The partnership is particularly relevant in several mission areas where autonomous maritime systems can provide immediate value.
Mine Countermeasures
Naval mines remain one of the most dangerous and cost-effective threats in maritime warfare. Detecting and neutralizing mines traditionally requires high-risk operations involving specialized ships and divers.
Autonomous underwater vehicles can survey minefields, identify threats, and assist in neutralization while keeping personnel out of harm’s way.
Multi-Vehicle Swarming
Swarms of autonomous systems can cover wider areas faster than single platforms. Coordinated fleets of underwater or surface vehicles could be used for reconnaissance, tracking, surveillance, or environmental sensing missions.
Survey and Mapping Missions
Underwater terrain mapping, seabed analysis, and infrastructure inspection are essential for military planning, cable security, offshore energy, and scientific research. Autonomous vehicles can perform these tasks efficiently and repeatedly.
High-Risk Operations
Some environments are too dangerous or costly for crewed missions. These may include contested waters, disaster zones, polluted sites, or extreme weather conditions. Autonomous platforms reduce operational risk while maintaining mission continuity.
Commercial and Civilian Use Cases
Although defense applications are a major driver, Ulysses’ technology also has significant commercial potential.
Its autonomous platforms are suited for:
- Offshore wind farm inspection
- Oil and gas infrastructure monitoring
- Port and harbor security
- Environmental data collection
- Fisheries management
- Search and rescue support
- Pipeline and cable inspection
- Coastal surveying
As oceans become increasingly important for energy, trade, communications, and climate monitoring, demand for efficient autonomous marine systems is expected to rise.
Ulysses’ Mission to Transform Ocean Access
Akhil Voorakkara, co-founder and CEO of Ulysses, described the ocean as one of the last major frontiers where access remains expensive and limited.
He pointed out that land, air, and space have all experienced revolutions in cost reduction and operational capability over the last two decades. Maritime operations, however, still rely heavily on expensive crewed vessels, leaving much of the world’s oceans unmonitored.
Ulysses aims to change that equation by developing autonomous vehicles that can survey, inspect, and protect oceans at a scale previously unattainable.
This perspective aligns with broader market trends. As sensor costs fall, computing power improves, and AI navigation systems mature, autonomous maritime systems are becoming more practical and economically attractive.
Booz Allen Ventures Expands into Maritime Sector
The Ulysses investment is significant because it marks Booz Allen Ventures’ first investment in the maritime technology sector.
Launched in 2022, Booz Allen Ventures was created to back early-stage startups developing technologies aligned with strategic national priorities. The fund focuses on sectors including:
- Artificial intelligence
- Defense technology
- Deep tech
- Cybersecurity
- Space technology
- Reindustrialization
Last year, the fund expanded to $300 million, reflecting the success of its portfolio strategy and the increasing pace of innovation in critical technologies.
With the Ulysses investment, Booz Allen is extending that strategy into robotics and maritime autonomy.
Brian MacCarthy, managing partner of Booz Allen Ventures, said autonomous maritime systems are expected to become one of the defining operational domains in the years ahead. He added that backing dual-use startups such as Ulysses helps build capabilities that can be deployed rapidly across sea, air, and land environments.
Parallel Investment with Andreessen Horowitz
The funding forms part of Ulysses’ Series A round, led by Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism fund. The participation is also notable because it is Booz Allen’s first parallel investment with Andreessen Horowitz since the two organizations announced a partnership in January 2026.
That partnership was established to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies considered vital to U.S. competitiveness and national security.
Jen Kha, head of global partnerships at Andreessen Horowitz, said the collaboration with Booz Allen is based on a shared belief that the best commercial technologies should quickly reach mission-critical users.
She described Ulysses as exactly the type of company envisioned under the partnership: a startup building essential capabilities at the intersection of autonomy and maritime defense.
Strengthening National Maritime Readiness
The strategic significance of maritime autonomy extends beyond technology investment. Oceans remain central to global trade, energy supply, undersea communications cables, and national defense.
Countries that can deploy persistent, low-cost autonomous maritime networks may gain advantages in surveillance, logistics, seabed awareness, and infrastructure protection.
For the United States and its allies, accelerating innovation in this field is increasingly viewed as a matter of readiness and competitiveness.
Booz Allen’s investment in Ulysses therefore represents more than financial backing—it reflects a broader effort to ensure advanced commercial innovation reaches national security missions quickly.
As maritime operations evolve, hybrid fleets combining crewed ships, submarines, aircraft, and autonomous systems are expected to become the norm. Companies capable of delivering scalable, affordable, and intelligent robotic platforms will play a growing role in shaping that future.
Through its investment in Ulysses, Booz Allen Hamilton is positioning itself to help lead this transformation. By combining consulting expertise, defense mission knowledge, and venture-backed innovation, the company is expanding its influence in one of the most strategically important emerging technology sectors.
For Ulysses, the backing from Booz Allen Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz provides both capital and strategic access that could accelerate product development and market adoption.
Together, the two firms are betting that the next major frontier of autonomy will be found not on roads or in skies—but beneath the waves.
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