Polar Mist
Swedish maritime-autonomy startup building Semper, an unmanned surface vessel with a proprietary optical/vision-based, GPS-free navigation system for contested environments.
Polar Mist is an early-stage Swedish company (founded 2023, HQ Lund) led by CEO Gustaf von Grothusen, a Lund University Engineering Physics graduate and Swedish Armed Forces Amphibious Regiment veteran. Its founding team is described as graduates of Lund's Engineering Physics program and the Amphibious Regiment, though no other individual co-founder names were independently confirmed. It builds Semper, an unmanned surface vessel (USV) combining a GPS-free, drift-free optical/vision navigation system with onboard autonomy software for GPS-denied maritime environments; the company's own site also lists two other, less-detailed product lines (OPUS and SOLVE). Air Street Capital and 201 Ventures backed Polar Mist's first funding round (announced April 2025, amount undisclosed), following roughly two years of pre-launch development.
Overview
- Headquarters
- Lund, Sweden
- Founded
- 2023
- Employees
- Total funding
- Stage
- Seed
- Status
- active
- Domains
- Maritime autonomy, Unmanned surface vessels, GPS-denied navigation
Investors2
- FundAir Street CapitalVenture capital firm investing in AI-first and deep-tech companies.
- Fund201 VenturesEuropean defense-tech-focused venture capital firm run by Eric Slesinger; portfolio includes Isembard, Polar Mist, and Delian Alliance Industries. (The prior claim that Helsing is a portfolio company was independently verified and refuted -- removed.)
Cap table0
Approximate ownership by holder. Indexed holders link to their records.
Raised per round
Percentages marked ~ are not disclosed. Some are a generic VC-pattern model (founders/team weighted heaviest, option pool lightest, other holders evenly) sized to whatever's left undisclosed — a standard industry shape, not this company's actual cap table.
| Holder | Instrument | Ownership |
|---|---|---|
| Preferred (Seed) | ~50.0% | |
| Preferred (Seed) | ~50.0% |
Contracts0
No linked records yet.
Programs0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- What does Polar Mist do?
- Polar Mist is an early-stage Swedish company (founded 2023, HQ Lund) led by CEO Gustaf von Grothusen, a Lund University Engineering Physics graduate and Swedish Armed Forces Amphibious Regiment veteran. Its founding team is described as graduates of Lund's Engineering Physics program and the Amphibious Regiment, though no other individual co-founder names were independently confirmed. It builds Semper, an unmanned surface vessel (USV) combining a GPS-free, drift-free optical/vision navigation system with onboard autonomy software for GPS-denied maritime environments; the company's own site also lists two other, less-detailed product lines (OPUS and SOLVE). Air Street Capital and 201 Ventures backed Polar Mist's first funding round (announced April 2025, amount undisclosed), following roughly two years of pre-launch development.
- Where is Polar Mist headquartered?
- Polar Mist is headquartered in Lund, Sweden and was founded in 2023.
- What does Polar Mist specialize in?
- Polar Mist works across Maritime autonomy, Unmanned surface vessels, GPS-denied navigation.
Sources & citations2
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Air Street Capital's investment in Polar Mist, a Swedish maritime autonomy startup building GPS-free navigation for unmanned surface vessels
Air Street Capital: Our investment in Polar MistVerified2025-04-04 - 2
Polar Mist launches after two years under the radar, backed by Air Street Capital and 201 Ventures
Polar Mist: Polar Mist — LaunchVerified2025-04-03