Startup Rankings
Top Maritime Defence Startups in Europe 2026
Last updated · 12 companies · compiled from public data sources
Maritime defence startups build uncrewed surface and underwater vessels, sensing payloads and the software that watches Europe's ports, cables and coastlines. The 12 companies listed here are based across 9 countries, led by Norway and Denmark.
Every entry is a short factual profile compiled from public sources: what the company builds, where it is based and when it was founded. The ranking favours established teams, ordering companies by team size band first and company age second. No funding figures are used.
- 1.
Tekever
Lisbon · founded 2001
Tekever builds the AR3 and AR5 unmanned aircraft used for maritime surveillance and battlefield ISR, with extensive operational service in Ukraine.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 2.
MARSS
Monaco · founded 2015
MARSS develops NiDAR, an AI-powered command system that fuses sensors and effectors to protect critical infrastructure, vessels and borders from air and surface threats.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 3.
Maritime Robotics
Trondheim · founded 2005
Maritime Robotics builds uncrewed surface vehicles such as the Mariner and Otter used for naval surveillance, mine countermeasures support and ocean data.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 4.
Unseenlabs
Rennes · founded 2015
Unseenlabs operates a constellation of radio-frequency sensing satellites that geolocate vessels at sea, serving maritime domain awareness missions.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 5.
Swarmly
Limassol · founded 2018
Cypriot manufacturer of Poseidon VTOL UAVs and unmanned surface vessels with government customers in multiple countries, including the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Unveiled the B5 Hydra USV and X23 Ares loitering munition.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 6.
WSense
Rome · founded 2012
Sapienza University of Rome spin-off with patented Internet of Underwater Things technology for wireless subsea communication and monitoring, relevant to critical seabed infrastructure protection. Raised around 10 million euros in 2025 to scale.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 7.
Blueye Robotics
Trondheim · founded 2015
Blueye Robotics builds underwater drones for subsea inspection, used by navies and coast guards for hull and infrastructure inspection.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 8.
Alen Space
Vigo · founded 2017
University of Vigo spin-off designing and building nanosatellites and payloads for applications including signals intelligence, aircraft surveillance and maritime communications, such as AIS payloads for Spain's Atlantic Constellation.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 9.
Upteko
Skanderborg · founded 2018
Danish deep-tech company building the LARK autonomous drone system with docking station for maritime and industrial environments, and since 2024 focused on defence and security customers including reconnaissance and border patrol.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 10.
Zeabuz
Trondheim · founded 2019
Zeabuz develops maritime autonomy software enabling uncrewed and self-navigating surface vessels for civil and naval applications.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 11.
Delian Alliance Industries
Athens · founded 2023
Delian Alliance Industries builds Interceptigon autonomous surveillance systems to defend against drones and asymmetric threats at borders and sea.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
- 12.
Triton Depth
Copenhagen · founded 2025
Copenhagen defence-tech startup founded by DTU engineers, building a network of passive acoustic sensor nodes with onboard AI to detect and classify underwater threats near ports and critical infrastructure. Raised a 1 million euro pre-seed led by EIFO.
Sources: fieldfaster curated dataset (public sources)
Have we missed your startup?
Companies are ranked by team size band and company age, using short factual profiles compiled from public sources. No funding figures are used. If your European defence startup belongs on this list, tell us and we'll review it for the next update.