Sofar Ocean

• Spotter Platform

• 2021-11-02 - Series B - $39M - Sofar Ocean raises $39M Series B

  Sofar Ocean raised $39 million in Series B funding to expand its ocean intelligence platform and global marine sensor network. - source: sofarocean.com

• Union Square Ventures; Foundry Group - Lead - VC - 1 funding event - first seen 2021-11-02

Events

• 2026-04-29 - Product Launch - Sofar Ocean introduces Spotter Scout uncrewed surface vehicle beta

  The beta vehicle is designed for deep-water and remote data collection without a mooring. Operators can assign waypoints and loiter radii while monitoring the platform through a live camera. The first-look demonstration covered station keeping, sensor integration, wave-data quality and early customer workflows.

  Source
• 2026-02-19 - Capability - Sofar Ocean upgrades Spotter Dashboard for fleet operations

  The update improves responsiveness for large fleets and adds clearer charts, maps and historical observation breadcrumbs. New data products include wave spectra and second-resolution spectrograms alongside expanded oxygen, salinity and acoustics streams. Device sampling, logging, transmission formats and APIs remain unchanged for deployed Spotters.

  Source
• 2025-03-13 - Partnership - MITRE and Sofar Ocean establish Bristlemouth testbed

  Bristlemouth defines an ocean-proof connector and peer-to-peer hardware interface for interoperable marine systems. MITRE committed to equip its Massachusetts BlueTech Lab as the first Bristlemouth centre of excellence. The testbed is intended to shorten integration cycles for developers moving marine hardware from laboratory testing into the ocean.

  Source
• 2024-09-18 - Deployment - National Hurricane Center operationalises Sofar Spotter observations

  Forecasters use Spotter wave, wind, sea-surface-temperature and pressure observations in data-sparse ocean regions. The observations help validate models, verify current conditions and support short-term adjustments to wave forecasts. The operational feed includes Sofar's global drifting network and airdropped Spotters used around severe storms.

  Source
• 2024-06-25 - Demonstration - Spotter matches ADCP current measurements in 24-day field comparison

  Across a 24-day field comparison, Spotter observations of current speed and direction were nearly identical to the ADCP reference. The tested system combined a Spotter buoy, Smart Mooring and integrated Aanderaa 4830 ZPulse Doppler Current Sensor. Sofar reported that the lighter system was easier to deploy and recover and provided simpler access to collected data.

  Source
• 2023-08-03 - Partnership - Sofar Ocean signs five-year research agreement with Naval Oceanography

  The agreement covers hardware for ocean data collection, data assimilation and data-as-a-service workflows. Sofar contributes its Spotter network, Smart Mooring devices, Bristlemouth connectivity work and operational forecasts. The collaboration builds on a Coast Guard deployment of five Spotter buoys during an Arctic patrol to the North Pole.

  Source
• 2023-05-12 - Product Launch - Sofar Ocean releases Spotter Power Save Mode

  Power Save Mode turns off Spotter's GPS sensor during sampling dwell periods to reduce energy use. Sofar measured battery-life gains of at least 25% and as much as 69%, depending on operating mode. The savings enable year-round deployments at higher latitudes and extend winter operating limits by as much as ten degrees of latitude.

  Source
• 2023-03-15 - Deployment - Ocean Exploration Trust deploys Spotter buoys across Pacific expeditions

  The partnership began with three Spotter buoys deployed from E/V Nautilus during a 2019 voyage to American Samoa. By the dated report, Spotters had been deployed on multiple expeditions to collect wave and meteorological observations. The observations expanded Sofar's global sensor network and were made accessible for ocean-weather and climate forecasting.

  Source
• 2021-11-02 - Funding - Sofar Ocean raises $39M Series B

  Union Square Ventures and Foundry Group led the $39 million Series B round. The capital was allocated to global expansion of Sofar's ocean-sensing network, technology platform and team. Sofar's network combines autonomous marine sensors with data products for weather, climate and maritime operations.

  Source

Relationships

• Online Oceans

  Technology Partner - Spotter Scout and ocean monitoring platform collaboration (USV hardware with Sofar sensing and data stack).

• MITRE

  Bristlemouth Development Partner - Sofar Ocean works with MITRE on bristlemouth development partner.

• U.S. Naval Oceanography

  Five Year Crada Partner - Sofar Ocean works with U.S. Naval Oceanography on five-year crada partner.

• Ocean Exploration Trust

  Spotter Deployment Partner - Sofar Ocean works with Ocean Exploration Trust on spotter deployment partner.

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Context tags

• Maritime robotics ecosystem - Stack Layer - Profile source supports this robotics context.