Drogue
Category: AI Infrastructure
Washington, D.C. startup building floating offshore data centers that generate their own power from ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and are cooled by seawater, to run AI inference at sea. Drogue was founded in 2025. The company is led by Sam Sipe. Based in Washington, DC, United States. Team size: 1-10. Total funding raised: $20M. Latest round: Venture Round. Key investors include XYZ Venture Capital, Toyota Ventures, Tamarack Global, Dream, FDVC, Garuda Ventures, Flexcap, Boost VC, Slow Ventures.
- Founded
- 2025
- Headquarters
- Washington, DC, United States
- Team size
- 1-10
- Total funding
- $20M
Value proposition
Lets data center developers deploy AI compute on timelines matched to AI demand by generating power and cooling at sea, avoiding grid interconnection waits of 7-10 years.
Products and solutions
Multi-megawatt OTEC-powered floating data center prototype, to be installed on a conventional oceangoing ship and sent to sea in early 2028. Later versions are planned on floating structures resembling offshore oil platforms.
Unique value
Self-powered, seawater-cooled floating data centers using a closed ammonia OTEC loop (warm surface water cools servers, then boils ammonia to drive a turbine; deep water at about 1,000 m condenses it). This offers baseload power without grid dependence.
Target customer
AI data center developers and operators, and other energy-intensive computing workloads.
Industries served
AI infrastructure, data centers, energy, maritime / ocean technology
Technology advantage
Modern manufacturing of the cold-water pipe and heat exchangers, which Drogue says makes 1980s-era OTEC viable. Co-locating compute with power avoids long subsea cables, and shipping data off-platform is cheap. The company has preliminary 'approval in principle' from the American Bureau of Shipping.
How they differentiate
Drogue uses ocean thermal energy for steady baseload power, versus wave power for Panthalassa. It starts on a conventional ship for fast prototyping and uses the same seawater for both server cooling and power generation.
Main competitors
Panthalassa (wave-powered floating AI data centers, $140M round in May 2026), OceanBit Energy (OTEC data center solution)
Key partnerships
American Bureau of Shipping (preliminary approval in principle for the design)
Major milestones
2025: founded in Washington, D.C. Nov 2026: announced $20M raise (TechCrunch exclusive). Preliminary approval in principle from ABS, buying its first vessel. Early 2028: planned prototype sea deployment.
Growth metrics
About 8 employees (Built In); founded about six months before the Nov 2026 announcement; $20M raised; multi-megawatt prototype designed.
Market positioning
Early-stage, deep-tech offshore AI inference infrastructure aimed at the power and grid-interconnection bottleneck. Net power and inference performance remain unproven.
Geographic focus
United States; deployment targeted at tropical oceans where the surface-to-deep temperature difference stays above 20°C year-round
About Sam Sipe
Former U.S. Navy aviator (flew E-2D Hawkeyes from aircraft carriers); Head of Engineering at Scale AI (per samsipe.com); founder and CEO of Drogue.
Latest news about Drogue
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Official website: https://drogue.com