Saildrone, which made history by sending an ocean drone into the eye of a hurricane last year, is going all-in to protect the coastal areas of the US with better ocean data. Following a $100 million Series C investment in October 2021, the company is now opening a new regional HQ and operations center in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The new Florida operations center will serve as the head office for Saildrone’s ocean mapping efforts and witness the launch of several critical missions this year. These would include monitoring programs during the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season (which begins on June 1) and mapping the US coastline to improve storm surge prediction.
Additionally, Saildrone also plans to deploy maritime security missions from Florida. This would help the authorities to tackle challenging issues on the water, such as illegal fishing, which costs the global economy billions of dollars each year, and drug trafficking, which is devastating communities…
