Fleetzero Raises $43M for Electric Ship Propulsion
Fleetzero, a marine technology company developing hybrid and electric propulsion systems for commercial ships, has raised $43 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Obvious Ventures, with participation from new investors Maersk Growth and 8090 Industries, as well as existing investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Y Combinator, the New Orleans Saints owners Benson Capital, Shorewind, and others. Early pre-seed investors in the company include Pioneer Fund, Sam Altman, John Doerr, David Rubenstein, and Flexport.
The funding was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The capital will be used to expand manufacturing of Fleetzero's Leviathan hybrid and electric marine propulsion system, which is being deployed globally on commercial vessels. The company has also opened a new Houston headquarters that will serve as its hub for manufacturing and R&D, including a production line with initial capacity of 300 MWh/year of marine energy storage systems, a marine robotics and autonomy lab, and a marine propulsion R&D center.
Fleetzero builds electric and hybrid propulsion systems for large ships and is developing unmanned cargo vessels. The company emerged from Y Combinator's W22 batch. CEO Steven Henderson is a marine engineer who has managed cargo ships, a hospital ship, and offshore facilities, with a degree from the US Merchant Marine Academy and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Co-founder Mike Carter is also a marine engineer and US Merchant Marine Academy graduate with an MBA from Rice, bringing expertise in ship operations and enterprise sales.
The company's approach uses swappable containerized batteries that can be exchanged at ports, enabling smaller ships to make multiple stops rather than requiring massive battery capacity for long voyages. Henderson and Carter claim their system is cost-competitive with long haul trucking between port cities.
"Hybrid and electric propulsion systems are simply cheaper, safer, and cleaner than traditional systems, and the shift in the industry towards electrification is inevitable."
— Steven Henderson, CEO of Fleetzero"Fleetzero is making robotic ships a reality today. The team is moving us from dirty, dangerous, and expensive to clean, safe, and cost-effective," said Andrew Beebe, Managing Director at Obvious Ventures.
The investment from Maersk Growth signals interest from the shipping industry. "We believe that electrification will be an important part of the mix on our journey to reach net-zero," said Morten Bo Christiansen, Head of Energy Transition at A.P. Moller-Maersk. "We're proud to support innovative companies such as Fleetzero."
Fleetzero plans to expand its Houston production capacity up to three GWh/yr over the next five years.