Ulysses
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Investors
Founders
About
Ulysses is a San Francisco-based company building networked autonomous vehicles that operate above and below ocean surfaces 1. Founded in Dublin in 2023 by Akhil Voorakkara, Will O’Brien, Jamie Wedderburn, and Colm O’Brien, the company develops small, modular underwater drones with capabilities that can be added like “snapping on LEGOs” — batteries for range, propellers for speed, GPU modules for computing power 2. Ulysses serves both commercial markets (energy, marine management, ocean habitat restoration) and defense customers including the US Navy, the Australian government, and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation 12. The company currently employs 20 people and has generated over $5 million in revenue 1.
Funding History
| Date | Round | Amount | Lead | Co-investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-16 | Series A | $38M | Andreessen Horowitz (American Dynamism) | Booz Allen Ventures, Harpoon Ventures 1234 |
| ~2023 | Seed | $8M | Pebblebed | Genius Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Superorganism, ReGen Ventures 14 |
What Investors Say
Erin Price-Wright and Ryan McEntush of Andreessen Horowitz on Ulysses: the founders “created a small, autonomous underwater vehicle that aims to outperform primes at a fraction of the cost” 2.
What Founders Say
Will O’Brien, President: “The ocean is 71% of the planet. But it is less explored than Mars, and full of secrets, waiting to be told.” 1
Sources
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Silicon Republic, “Irish-founded Ulysses raises $46m in rounds that include Andreessen Horowitz,” April 16, 2026. https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/irish-founded-ulysses-raises-46m-in-rounds-that-include-andereesen-horowitz↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Andreessen Horowitz, “Investing in Ulysses,” April 16, 2026. https://a16z.com/announcement/investing-in-ulysses/↩↩↩↩
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The Irish Times, “Irish-founded Ulysses raises $38m in Series A funding,” April 16, 2026. Accessed July 2026. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2026/04/16/irish-founded-ulysses-raises-38m-in-series-a-funding/ — Independent tier-1 Irish press confirmation of Series A: USD 38M led by Andreessen Horowitz with Booz Allen Ventures and Harpoon Ventures participating; prior USD 8M seed led by Pebblebed with Genius Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Superorganism, and ReGen Ventures. Total funding USD 46M. ↩
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Tectonic Defense, “Ulysses Raises $46M Seed + Series A,” April 17, 2026. Accessed July 2026. https://www.tectonicdefense.com/ulysses-raises-46m-seed-series-a/ — Independent defense-tech press confirming both rounds: USD 8M seed (Pebblebed lead; Genius Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Superorganism, ReGen Ventures participants); USD 38M Series A (a16z American Dynamism lead; Booz Allen Ventures, Harpoon Ventures participants); USD 46M combined; will scale production of Mako AUV, advance Leviathan surface vessel and Kraken launch-and-recovery from prototype to production. ↩↩