Michigan electric boat startup Voltaic Marine raises $3 million.

Voltaic Marine, a Traverse City, Michigan-based startup developing high-performance electric boats and unmanned surface vessels (USVs), recently announced that it has closed a $3 million pre-seed funding round to move from prototype to pilot production and expand demonstrations for defense customers.

The oversubscribed round was led by venture firm Antler and included participation from South Loop Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, Cobra Capital, Michigan Rise and the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund. The company also cited support in their announcement from state and regional economic-development organizations, including the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Centrepolis Accelerator.

Voltaic was founded in 2023 in Portland, Oregon and was one of the four finalists in the 2024 PitchMI competition, which was only open to Michigan-headquartered businesses. The Portland Business Journal even quoted Founder and CEO, Richard Phamdo as saying “We just didn't find the immediate support out of Oregon that the company was looking for.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Phamdo spent the majority of his career at Intel, most recently as an Account Manager and Director working on autonomous and automotive business. Voltaic promises  an electric platform that it says can underpin both recreational sport boats and modular USVs. The company claims its patented hull design and battery architecture produce higher efficiency and greater power scalability than current alternatives, with battery configurations ranging from roughly 150–300 kWh up to multi-megawatt-hours. Voltaic also emphasizes onshore automated manufacturing as a way to speed production and lower costs.

Phamdo said in the statement that the new capital will fund production of the company’s AEW24 electric sport boat, expansion of pre-orders and dealer relationships, and further development and demonstrations of modular USVs for defense purposes.

Investors framed the bet as part of a broader shift toward electrification in maritime transport. Antler partner Tyler Norwood noted the firm’s selective process and said “we believe they are building a category-defining company in the electrification of marine platforms,” while South Loop Ventures’ Zach Ellis Jr. highlighted the team’s engineering experience.

The company has announced the AEW24 sport boat as its first consumer product; details about performance, pricing and dealer rollout remain limited. As with many early-stage hardware companies, scaling production and proving reliability in real-world maritime conditions will be key tests, although the company’s emphasis on domestic, automated production also responds to growing attention on supply-chain resilience and onshore manufacturing.