Italy’s AI robotics startup Mirai Robotics raises €3.6 million to build autonomous systems for maritime operations

Mirai Robotics, a Puglia-based physical AI and robotics startup building autonomous systems and information intelligence platforms for maritime operations, has closed a €3.6 million ($4.2 million) pre-Seed equity round to accelerate technology development, strengthen the team, and launch new pilot projects. 

The round was led by Primo Ventures, Techshop and 40Jemz Ventures, with participation from leading Italian and international angel investors. 

“The sea is one of the last major physical infrastructures not yet governed by software. Autonomy is the key to finally making the oceans safe and usable, unlocking enormous resources and addressing critical security challenges. But it must be implemented through systems capable of operating continuously and safely in extreme environments. This is a technological and industrial challenge that requires a true robotics-lab approach,” said Luciano Belviso, co-founder and CEO of Mirai Robotics. 

Founded in 2025 by Luciano Belviso, Luca Mascaro, and Davide Dattoli, Mirai Robotics’ goal is to develop physical autonomy technologies capable of operating in extreme, mission-critical environments, where reliability, safety, and control are non-negotiable requirements.

According to the company, the maritime domain remains one of the most complex and least digitised environments in the world, despite its economic and geopolitical centrality. It is characterised by high operational costs, limited continuous observability, significant exposure to risk, and a strong reliance on human operators. 

It notes that this is further compounded by a structural shortage of qualified professionals. Many operational roles remain difficult to fill, while the average age of captains and operators continues to rise. As a result, continuous, safe, and scalable operations cannot be sustained by a fully human-centric model. 

Mirai Robotics was founded to address this challenge. It’s a European AI robotics lab with the ambition to build the robotic infrastructure needed to make the sea more governable, safe, and observable.

Mirai Robotics claims that its systems are built to support continuous surveillance, patrolling, monitoring, and control, thereby minimising human risk and substantially decreasing operational costs relative to conventional approaches. 

The company focuses on the integration of autonomous vehicles, advanced sensing, artificial intelligence, and control systems. According to the company, its differentiation lies in its robotics-lab approach, with autonomy being treated as a full engineering and industrial challenge, rather than just a mere software problem.

Mirai Robotics has developed two autonomous vehicles designed for different operational needs, targeting ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) and patrolling scenarios in both coastal and offshore environments. The vehicles’ feature list includes advanced perception systems, autonomous navigation, remote control, and safety features. They are designed to operate either as standalone units or as part of distributed systems.

Alongside its proprietary platforms, Mirai Robotics states that it also develops autonomy, navigation, and control solutions that can be integrated into third-party vehicles. This allows industrial and institutional operators to implement autonomous technologies without needing to completely redesign their current fleets. As a result, Mirai’s technology can be utilised in various civil and institutional applications, following a dual-use by design principle.

“The decision to start in Italy is deliberate. The country is historically a global leader in shipbuilding and maritime engineering, with internationally recognised excellence in defence, yachting, offshore, and marine infrastructure. Mirai Robotics was born at the intersection of this industrial heritage and a new generation of technologies based on advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems,” mentioned the company in its press release. 

The company is based in Puglia, selected as a strategic location connecting the Mediterranean, industry, and research sectors, with the goal of establishing a European centre of excellence for maritime autonomy.

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