Nauticus Robotics, a developer of ocean robots and artificial intelligence for autonomous services to the offshore industries, said Thursday it had entered into a senior secured term loan agreement with existing stakeholders, Transocean, ATW Partners, Material Impact, and RCB Equities.
The term loan deal provides Nauticus with up to $20 million in secured term loans, of which $11.6 million has already been funded.
The loans are convertible at $6.00 per share of common stock, subject to certain customary anti-dilution adjustments, at the option of each Lender, until the date that the loans are no longer outstanding.
Nauticus Robotics said it was actively discussing a larger round of capital with new investors, beyond the available capacity of the term loan agreement, to support its service offering expansion.
"We are thrilled to have secured this funding and we sincerely appreciate the trust and commitment shown by our long-term investors, Transocean, ATW, Material Impact, and RCB. Their continued investment underscores confidence in the company's strategic direction and growth potential," said Nicolaus Radford, CEO of Nauticus. "Our autonomous service offering will have a hugely positive impact on our customers' costs, safety, and the environment. We are excited about the opportunities this financing provides as we continue to build out our fleet of robots."
Deal with Shell
A week ago, Nauticus Robotics entered a service contract with Shell plc. The initial scope of work includes inspection services on a Shell subsea field development in the Gulf of Mexico, and the contract contemplates visible future inspection service projects.
The contract follows Nauticus’ successful qualification phase for autonomous methods of subsea operations for inspection services. The new contract acknowledges Nauticus’ successful transition to a fully operational offshore services provider, the company said.
Aquanaut, Nauticus’ flagship autonomous subsea robot, will serve as the project’s workhorse and perform noncontact and contact inspections across an extensive subsea complex. The project features Nauticus’ first-to-market method of autonomous subsea manipulation on live subsea assets in water depths exceeding 1000m. A remote pilot will collaborate with Aquanaut during the operation through Nauticus’ acoustic communications link to ensure safe operations.
The project also features what Shell has termed “a force multiplier” solution with multiple scopes of work to be executed simultaneously from a smaller class of service vessel that would not normally engage in IMR services.
"Nauticus not needing an umbilical to control Aquanaut is the key enabler of business case. In delivering this project Nauticus and Shell will take a major step in maturing a novel approach, jointly developed by the two companies, to underwater operations that could lead to a step change in technology and service delivery for the offshore sector," Nauticus said.