Spear AI, a cutting-edge developer of maritime artificial intelligence solutions, has successfully closed its seed funding round with backing from Scare the Bear Capital and Cortical Ventures. The fresh capital will drive the expansion of its Horizon platform, development of next-gen maritime sensor technologies, and the scaling of expert-led AI and data infrastructure services.
Spear AI offers a unique blend of AI-powered software, modular sensors, and engineering services tailored for national security and commercial maritime applications. Its flagship product, the Horizon platform, is designed to manage and annotate acoustic data, enabling seamless development of maritime AI models. Alongside the platform, the company provides expert consultancy in MLOps, reinforcement learning, and mission-critical decision systems, helping organizations operationalize AI at the edge.
“This investment is a validation of our vision to transform maritime data into actionable intelligence,” said Michael Hunter, co-founder and CEO of Spear AI. “Our partners recognize the urgent need for AI deployment in maritime defense and industry operations, and this funding accelerates our ability to serve both.”
With an elite team of machine learning engineers, software architects, cloud experts, and maritime specialists, Spear AI has already established collaborations with key national security stakeholders, including the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy.
“Our mission has always been to close the gap between emerging AI technologies and real-world mission demands,” added John McGunnigle, co-founder, Executive Chairman, and CTO. “With this funding, we can rapidly grow our team and extend our AI capabilities to new defense and commercial partners.”
Scare the Bear Capital and Cortical Ventures praised Spear AI’s strong leadership, technological edge, and high-impact mission.
“Spear AI has exactly what we look for in a startup—visionary founders, real-world impact, and the opportunity to scale within the federal and defense ecosystems,” said Matt Dean, Managing Partner at Scare the Bear.
Jeremy Achin, Co-founder and General Partner at Cortical Ventures, added: “John and Michael are mission-driven experts, and Spear AI is uniquely positioned at the intersection of national defense, data science, and commercial maritime tech.”
With plans to expand its international footprint and commercial offerings, Spear AI is on track to redefine maritime intelligence and edge AI deployments.