The archive · Hardware & Devices · Product decision · 2018–2026
BeeX bets autonomous drones can replace divers and ROVs for subsea inspection
NUS-born BeeX builds hovering autonomous underwater vehicles that inspect subsea assets at up to 50% lower cost; $7.7M Series A closed 2026.
BeeX
What the business is
BeeX designs, deploys and operates hovering autonomous underwater vehicles (HAUVs) — AI-powered drones that inspect offshore wind, oil & gas, subsea cables and coastal infrastructure without dive teams or ROV pilots.
Starting capital：S$10M (US$7.7M) Series A closed June 2026; earlier seven-figure seed from Cap Vista (2021) and a post-seed round in October 2023
How it started
BeeX began as an eight-person undergraduate project at the National University of Singapore led by Grace Chia and Goh Eng Wei, who co-founded the underwater robotics team there more than fourteen years ago. The company spun out in 2018 to commercialize hovering autonomous underwater vehicles for inspecting nearshore and offshore infrastructure, where conventional methods need large support vessels, specialized pilots and complex safety protocols.
What happened
BeeX raised a seven-figure seed from Singapore defence investor Cap Vista and a post-seed round in October 2023, then built its next-generation HAUV, BETTA, which was fully booked through the end of 2025 before its official release. In September 2025 it launched a S$10 million Series A — more than half soft-committed before launch — and closed it in June 2026 led by Monk's Hill Ventures with SEEDS, ShipsFocus, OCTAVE Capital and NUS Technology Holdings. The round funds expanding its fleet of autonomous underwater drones and its operational reach; Singapore's Ministry of Defence has also partnered with BeeX on a multi-million-dollar contract covering coastal and subsea inspection, base protection and mine countermeasures.
How it ended up
Still running and expanding: as of mid-2026 BeeX reports 700+ deployments across Europe and Asia and seven drones operational, with the Series A financing fleet growth across offshore energy, defence and coastal infrastructure.
Background
BeeX is a Singapore-based startup born from a National University of Singapore undergraduate robotics project that began in 2008 and was spun out in 2018 by Grace Chia and Goh Eng Wei. It builds hovering autonomous underwater vehicles (HAUVs) that inspect offshore wind farms, oil & gas assets, subsea cables and coastal infrastructure without divers, ROV pilots or the support vessels those methods require.
The company's bet is that fully autonomous underwater drones can own the subsea inspection market: regulated, recurring inspection requirements are expensive to service conventionally, and BeeX's autonomous systems deliver reliable underwater data at up to 50% lower cost than work-class ROV operations, with 90% less operational risk.
BeeX raised a seven-figure seed from Cap Vista in 2021 and a post-seed round in October 2023, then launched a S$10 million (US$7.7 million) Series A in September 2025 that closed in June 2026 led by Monk's Hill Ventures with SEEDS, ShipsFocus, OCTAVE Capital and NUS Technology Holdings. Its next-generation HAUV, BETTA, was fully booked through the end of 2025 before its official release, and as of 2026 the company reports 700+ deployments across Europe and Asia.
What has to be true
- Subsea inspection is regulated, recurring and expensive: divers and ROVs need large support vessels and specialist crews, so a cheaper autonomous alternative has measurable ROI.
- The founding team led NUS's underwater robotics group for over fourteen years, giving BeeX proprietary underwater data and operational maturity rivals lack.
- Autonomy underwater was historically impossible — no GPS, poor visibility, unpredictable currents — but the founders bet machine learning made it possible, and BETTA's 2025 bookings validated that.
- A multi-million-dollar MINDEF contract proved institutional demand for autonomous subsea inspection, de-risking the push into offshore wind and oil & gas.
What can be applied
The strongest wedge for autonomy is the regulated, recurring, expensive job: replacing a diver-and-vessel inspection is easier to sell than replacing humans in open-ended tasks.
Aftermath
As of September 2026 BeeX is operating and scaling, with seven drones deployed, 700+ deployments across Europe and Asia, and the June 2026 Series A funding an expanded fleet and global operational reach across offshore energy, defence and coastal infrastructure. It positions its Sambal software suite as the end-to-end workflow from inspection planning to geo-referenced reporting; no revenue figures or exit have been disclosed.
Sources
- The Next Frontier of Physical AI Is Underwater
- Singapore's BeeX launches $7.76M Series A funding round to fuel global expansion
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