Albacore
Philadelphia-based, Y Combinator-backed startup building mass-producible autonomous underwater vehicles for maritime deterrence and ISR; raised a $6.5M seed round (Oct 2025) led by Outlander VC with D3 among the backers.
Albacore Inc. is a Philadelphia defense-technology startup building mass-producible, expeditionary autonomous underwater vehicles (UUVs). Its first product, Ghostfin, is an ~8.5-foot, ~425 lb drone submarine assembled from commercial off-the-shelf components with proprietary autonomy software and novel battery technology, offering roughly 1,000 nautical miles of range, 30-day endurance, and up to ~200-250 lbs of payload capacity for kinetic effects or ISR missions. Founded in 2025 by John Huddleston (ex-BCG, unmanned-systems procurement) and Dante Vaisbort (a second-time defense founder, previously of Haylon Technologies), Albacore went through Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch and raised a $6.5M seed round in October 2025 led by Outlander VC, with D3 among the participating investors. The company has conducted water tests with kinetic payloads, has a DoD demonstration planned for January 2026, and is slated to take part in the Balikatan military exercise in the Philippines in 2026.
Overview
- Headquarters
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Founded
- 2025
- Employees
- Total funding
- Stage
- Status
- active
- Domains
- Website
- www.albacore.inc/
Founders2
- FounderJohn HuddlestonCo-founder of Albacore, a Philadelphia startup building autonomous underwater vehicles; previously spent ~3 years at Boston Consulting Group advising government agencies and Fortune 500 companies on the defense industrial base.
- FounderDante VaisbortCo-founder of Albacore; a second-time defense founder who previously founded Haylon Technologies, winning and leading more than $10M in DoD contract efforts.
Cap table0
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Programs0
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Frequently asked
- What does Albacore do?
- Albacore Inc. is a Philadelphia defense-technology startup building mass-producible, expeditionary autonomous underwater vehicles (UUVs). Its first product, Ghostfin, is an ~8.5-foot, ~425 lb drone submarine assembled from commercial off-the-shelf components with proprietary autonomy software and novel battery technology, offering roughly 1,000 nautical miles of range, 30-day endurance, and up to ~200-250 lbs of payload capacity for kinetic effects or ISR missions. Founded in 2025 by John Huddleston (ex-BCG, unmanned-systems procurement) and Dante Vaisbort (a second-time defense founder, previously of Haylon Technologies), Albacore went through Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch and raised a $6.5M seed round in October 2025 led by Outlander VC, with D3 among the participating investors. The company has conducted water tests with kinetic payloads, has a DoD demonstration planned for January 2026, and is slated to take part in the Balikatan military exercise in the Philippines in 2026.
- Where is Albacore headquartered?
- Albacore is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and was founded in 2025.
Sources & citations5
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Albacore is building mass-producible, expeditionary autonomous underwater vehicles; first product Ghostfin is an ~8.5 ft, ~425 lb drone submarine with ~1,000 nm range and 30-day endurance.
Albacore Inc.: Albacore — HomeVerified2026-08-11 - 2
Albacore raised a $6.5M seed round (announced Oct 16, 2025) led by Outlander VC, with D3 (its third check into Albacore), Brave Capital, Alumni Ventures, UA1, Heliad, 468 Capital, BoxGroup, Karman Ventures, Pioneer Fund, and RSquared VC/R-G.AI participating; founders John Huddleston and Dante Vaisbort; DoD demo planned Jan 2026 and Balikatan exercise participation planned for 2026.
Tectonic Defense: Exclusive: YC-Backed Albacore Swims Into $6.5M Seed RoundVerified2025-10-16 - 3
D3 participated in Albacore's $6.5M seed round.
Heliad: Heliad invests in Albacore's USD 6.5m Seed roundVerified2025-10-01 - 4
Albacore Inc. (YC S25) builds drone submarines; founded by John Huddleston and Dante Vaisbort.
Y Combinator: Albacore Inc.: Drone submarinesVerified2026-08-11 - 5
D3's own portfolio page lists Albacore ('Autonomous underwater vehicles') among its portfolio companies.
D3: D3 PortfolioVerified2026-08-11