St. John’s-based Kraken Robotics Inc. recently gained $2.2 million in contracts and funding, the company announced today.
The bulk of the money, $1.5 million, comes from the German government, through the Ocean Technology Campus project in the city of Rostock.
Funding of about 45 million Euros over nine years will create a technological underwater research facility, complete with wave pools, labs, workshops and specialized ships, for testing and simulations under controlled conditions.
As part of the Ocean Technology Campus, Kraken Power will start two projects in Q4 of this year. The company said projects, which will last for about three years, will cover expanded thruster size and power range and new subsea battery and charging solutions.
Meanwhile, Kraken is working to deliver $700,000 worth of orders for subsea batteries and sensors to defense customers.
The company says it cannot name its customers, due to confidentiality reasons, but can say that an existing US defence industry customer will take delivery of its second order of SeaPower® batteries in the first half of 2021.
Another defense customer, in the Southern Hemisphere, has awarded Kraken a contract for an AquaPix MINSAS120 sensor for integration into the customer Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs.)
Kraken added it is expecting an additional contract for a custom payload section that will allow for easy transfer of the MINSAS system between the customers’ AUVs from two different AUV manufacturers.
This is an industry unique capability of Kraken’s SAS systems, according to the company.
Delivery will occur in 2021.
