The oceans are at the heart of the strategic issues, as evidenced by the key importance of the Strait of Hormuz at the time of the US-Iran war. The French startup Bubble Robotics is developing maritime robots to respond to the lack of manpower on critical use cases.
Use in energy, safety and climate
Its robots target the fields of energy and infrastructure, safety and climate. In the energy sector, Bubble Robotics aims to ensure continuous inspection of offshore equipment, without ships or crews. Bubble provides structural monitoring, millimeter mapping and non-destructive inspections on foundations, cables, pipelines and turbines, with increased frequency and reduced cost.
In the field of climate and biodiversity, the robot aims to deliver persistent environmental data. Bubble offers to measure, understand and manage ocean dynamics over time through benthic mapping, photogrammetry, ecosystem monitoring and biofouling.
A persistent surveillance capability
In terms of maritime safety and defense, Bubble proposes to switch to a continuous underwater presence. The startup describes a persistent monitoring capability in strategic environments with acoustic anomaly detection, UXO identification, mine warfare, and critical infrastructure protection.
Bubble Robotics raises 4.5 million euros in pre-seed to deploy its autonomous ocean robots by targeting energy, climate and maritime safety. Bubble Robotics was founded in 2025 by former engineers from NASA and ETH Zürich.
Launch of the startup within the Entrepreneurs First accelerator
Bubble Robotics wants to accelerate the deployment of its underwater robotic systems, designed as an operational workforce for the ocean. The round was led by Episode 1, Asterion Ventures and Norrsken Evolve after the company launched within the Entrepreneurs First accelerator.
This funding should allow Bubble Robotics to accelerate the development of its « physical AI » platform. It combines autonomous robotics, embedded perception and AI data processing to meet a growing demand, already materialized by more than $4 million in signed letters of intent. The answer is the emergence of autonomous systems, relying on robotics, satellite connectivity and embedded intelligence.
A fleet of autonomous robots to reproduce a human workflow
Bubble Robotics proposes to replace human operations with a fleet of autonomous robots capable of reproducing and automating the entire human workflow at sea, continuously, all year round. These robots are based on bricks of « physical AI », able to perceive, analyze and intervene with minimal human supervision.
These robots are designed to operate for several months at sea. These mobile systems integrate their own energy production and must be able to operate in extreme conditions, resistant up to sea 7.
Remote monitoring of maritime robots
Human teams can thus remain on the ground while maintaining continuous control over their assets. « Today, 80 to 90% of inspection costs are attributable to ships and crews, » says Jean Crosetti, CEO and co-founder. « In eliminating this dependence, we are radically transforming the economic equation, the frequency of inspections, operational security and data quality, » he promises.
In the marketing aspect, Bubble Robotics offers a « robotics-as-a-service » solution. This gives manufacturers operational capacity without offshore or CAPEX teams. This approach aims to respond to cost reductions, the scarcity of offshore skills and the growing need for continuous data.
An autonomous workforce operating continuously
« The ocean is at the heart of climate, energy and safety issues. We are developing an autonomous workforce capable of operating there continuously, and we are paving the way for a new generation of maritime infrastructure: more resilient, safer and continuously controllable from the land, « conds Jean Crosetti.
The « robotic-as-a-service » platform aims to allow offshore energy, maritime infrastructure and security players to reduce their costs by up to 70%, while benefiting from real-time and permanent monitoring of their critical assets. Bubble Robotics is located in France, Zurich and San Francisco.
source : la revue du digital
