Marine robotics deep-tech startup EyeROV raises Rs 10 crore in pre-Series A round

EyeROV, a marine robotics deep-tech startup providing products and solutions in the field of underwater domain, has raised Rs 10 crore ($1.2 million) in a pre-Series A round of funding led by Unicorn India Ventures, the company said in a statement.

EyeROV founded in 2016 by IIT Alumnus Johns T Mathai and Kannappa Palaniappan P, is a deep-tech company specializing in marine robotics and AI. The Company aims to revolutionise industries like maritime, defense, energy, and infra through its unmanned technologies. The company is headquartered in Kochi and offers its solutions globally.

Commenting on the investment, Anil Joshi, managing partner at Unicorn India Ventures, said, "Marine robotics is a highly complex subject, and developing a drone to inspect underwater infrastructure requires unmanned tech built with precision. Unicorn India has the strong DNA of a deep tech investor as we understand the tech both hardware and software aspects. As we have a strong track record of bringing out highly innovative companies from sectors that are still emerging or relatively new, we believe EyeROV’s products and solutions have a global application."

"With this funding, EyeROV will be able to scale up its sales, R&D, and operations much faster. We have developed unique, differentiated solutions for underwater infrastructure inspections that have been successfully validated in the Indian market and are now ready for global expansion. Unicorn India has supported similar hardware/robotics companies in the past, and we believe this partnership will be highly beneficial," said Johns T Mathai, CEO of EyeROV. 

Kannappa Palaniappan P, CTO, EyeROV, added, "This funding will accelerate the development of new products, which have been validated by market studies and numerous industry inquiries."

EyeROV aims to triple its revenue by the end of this Financial Year and boost sales in both Indian and international markets and promises that the funds raised in Pre-Series A Round will be used to expand in international markets and develop advanced marine robotic products and solutions to augment EyeROV’s current offerings. The company also aims to undertake more projects in the oil & gas, maritime, and infrastructure sectors and is advancing its efforts to supply products to the Indian defense sector. EyeROV says it is also creating specialized solutions for infrastructure inspections and collaborating with defense R&D labs and forces through the Innovations for Defence Excellence (IDEX) initiative to develop maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) solutions.

Unicorn India Ventures is a technology-focused early-stage venture fund that invests capital in emerging and visionary startups that was started in 2016 by Bhaskar Majumdar and Anil Joshi.