Terradepth

Terradepth is an Austin, Texas-based autonomous maritime technology company founded in 2018 by former US Navy SEALs Judson Kauffman and Joe Wolfel. The company combines a fleet of proprietary autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with a cloud-native data platform to deliver ocean intelligence for defense, energy, and maritime industries.

Inspired by the synchronized tactics of SEAL dive teams, Terradepth's AUVs operate in coordinated pairs: one unit dives to collect data at depths reaching 6,000 meters while the other surfaces to recharge and relay information. This self-sustaining mission architecture enables long-duration, continuous operations without the need for surface support vessels, dramatically reducing the cost and logistical footprint of subsea survey operations.

Terradepth operates its own survey fleet which includes Teledyne Gavia AUVs and is developing a proprietary Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (LUUV) with a range of up to 1,000 nautical miles and the ability to operate at depths of 1,000 meters. The company has demonstrated IHO S-44 Special Order survey accuracy, the most demanding international standard for seabed mapping precision, proving that the highest levels of hydrographic accuracy no longer require large costly surface vessels.

The company's Absolute Ocean (AO) platform is a cloud-native, browser-accessible ocean data management system built on AWS GovCloud with FedRAMP and IL4/IL5 compliance for classified and sensitive operations. The platform enables immersive visualization of high-resolution geospatial datasets, data aggregation from multiple vehicles and sensors, and secure enterprise collaboration across distributed maritime teams.

Terradepth has raised USD 28 million in total funding including a USD 20 million Series A in April 2022 co-led by Giant Ventures and Nimble Ventures, with participation from Seagate. The company's ocean-mapping-as-a-service model serves defense agencies, offshore energy operators, and hydrographic survey clients seeking lower-cost, higher-frequency access to subsea data.