What Mare Liberum does

Mare Liberum Capital Partners, LLC is a Miami-based, SEC-registered investment adviser founded in 2024 that operates a venture capital strategy investing exclusively in maritime critical technologies at the intersection of national security and commercial innovation. The firm targets companies building autonomous surface vessels, AI-driven maritime domain awareness platforms, electronic warfare and counter-UAS systems, electric seagliders, and sovereign AI infrastructure — with five disclosed anchor investments across Saronic Technologies, Regent Craft, Epirus, Windward, and Stealth Incubation. Its investment thesis is grounded in macro-structural tailwinds: 80% of global trade by volume moves across oceans, roughly $10T of annual trade flows through the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, approximately $1T of commodity value was disrupted by Houthi activity in the Red Sea, and U.S. naval fleet size trails China's by roughly 250 to 370 hulls.

Mare Liberum generates revenue through standard private-fund economics — management fees (industry-typical 2% of committed capital) and carried interest (industry-typical 20% of profits above the hurdle) — applied across its fund vehicles. Its flagship Fund II is targeted at $270M in total commitments, anchored by a $150M, 10-year accruing government-guaranteed loan from the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Strategic Capital and the U.S. Small Business Administration under the SBICCT program, with the balance to be raised from private institutional limited partners. The firm was admitted to SBICCT as one of 23 firms selected from 386 applicants after approximately 10 months of vetting.

The firm is led by four General Partners: Marc Baliotti (formerly Senior Managing Director at AE Industrial Partners and Managing Director at GSO Capital Partners), Erik Bethel (former U.S. Representative to the World Bank with oversight of $100B+ in capital deployment, previously Partner at Americas Frontier Fund), Vrushank Vora (former Partner at America's Frontier Fund and AI-supply-chain founder with an M.S. in CS/ML Systems from Georgia Tech), and retired Rear Admiral Lorin Selby (former U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Research overseeing 3,800 personnel and a $4B R&D budget). A Board of Advisors — including former Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite, former Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger, former State Department Undersecretary Paula Dobriansky, former NOAA head Timothy Gallaudet, gCaptain founder John Konrad, and former Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Louis Sola — provides government and maritime network access for deal sourcing and LP fundraising.

Name

Mare Liberum

Legal name

Mare Liberum Capital Partners, LLC

Website

https://mareliberum.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mare Liberum is a Miami-based venture capital firm investing in maritime critical technologies — autonomous platforms, AI-driven domain awareness, electronic warfare, and sovereign AI infrastructure. It serves institutional LPs and is backed by a $150M Pentagon/SBA SBICCT anchor facility for its $270M Fund II.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Maritime Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)

Keywords

• Maritime technology investing
• Venture capital funds
• Defense technology investments
• Autonomous systems funding
• National security investments

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: As a venture capital fund, Mare Liberum generates revenue through management fees (typically 2% of committed capital) and performance fees/carry (typically 20% of profits above the hurdle rate). The fund structure includes a 10-year accruing loan from the SBA/Pentagon and private LP equity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Mare Liberum is a Miami-based venture capital investment firm that manages funds investing in maritime critical technologies. Its Fund II targets autonomous maritime platforms, AI-driven maritime domain awareness software, resilient logistics technologies, and counter-UAS capabilities, with the fund anchored by up to $150 million in government-guaranteed leverage from the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital and the U.S. Small Business Administration under the SBICCT program, alongside $120 million from private limited partners.

Product overview

Mare Liberum is a Miami-based investment firm focused on maritime critical technologies. The firm operates its second investment fund targeting maritime dominance, which backs portfolio companies including autonomous maritime platforms (Saronic Technologies), electric seagliders (REGENT Craft), electronic warfare systems (Epirus), AI-powered maritime domain awareness (Windward), and sovereign AI infrastructure (Stealth Incubation). The investment strategy addresses asymmetric naval warfare, global trade realignment away from China, and ocean exploration driven by the energy transition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mare Liberum Fund II - Maritime Dominance Fund A private venture capital fund that invests LP capital into maritime critical technology companies developing autonomous platforms, AI-powered domain awareness, resilient logistics, electronic warfare and counter-UAS capabilities. The fund is offered via private placement to qualified institutional investors, family offices, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% of global traded goods by volume move across oceans
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Saronic TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Mare Liberum has invested in Saronic Technologies, which develops autonomous surface vessels for maritime security, surveillance, and defense operations. This represents a portfolio investment in the autonomous maritime systems sector.
• Regent CraftcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Mare Liberum has invested in Regent Craft, which builds electric seagliders enabling high-speed, low-emission coastal transport for commercial and defense use.
• EpiruscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Mare Liberum has invested in Epirus, which develops directed-energy, high-power microwave systems for electronic warfare and counter-drone capabilities.
• WindwardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Mare Liberum has invested in Windward, an AI platform that fuses multi-satellite, terrestrial, and vessel-based AIS data for maritime domain awareness.
• Stealth IncubationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Mare Liberum has invested in Stealth Incubation, which develops sovereign AI infrastructure for critical national security applications.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Lux Capital: Deep-tech venture firm with concentrated bets in AI, autonomy, and frontier technology. Comparable as a thesis-driven deep-tech investor backing capital-intensive science and engineering ventures like Mare Liberum's portfolio.
• Shield Capital: Defense- and national-security-focused early-stage venture firm investing in autonomy, AI, and space. Direct peer given Mare Liberum's similar defense-tech thesis and LP base orientation toward national security priorities.
• AE Industrial Partners: Aerospace, defense, and industrial-focused private equity firm. Comparable given GP Marc Baliotti's prior role as Senior Managing Director and portfolio manager for the AEI Structured Solutions Fund, a growth capital strategy.
• America's Frontier Fund: Deep-tech and strategic-tech investment firm focused on U.S. national security competitiveness. Directly comparable as a strategic-tech investor, with overlapping team lineage (Erik Bethel and Vrushank Vora previously at AFF).
• 8VC: Venture firm investing in defense, aerospace, logistics, and frontier industries. Comparable as a thematic investor in defense-adjacent and supply-chain technologies that overlap with Mare Liberum's maritime autonomy thesis.

Broad incumbents

• General Catalyst: Established venture firm with growing defense-tech and government services practice (e.g., acquisitions, federal tech). Comparable given overlapping interest in national security-adjacent investments.
• Founders Fund: Large venture firm with deep defense-tech and frontier-tech exposure (SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril). Comparable as a defense-tech investor, though with substantially broader thematic scope than Mare Liberum's maritime focus.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Mega-VC with an explicit American Dynamism thesis investing in defense, manufacturing, and national security startups. Overlaps with Mare Liberum's maritime/national security focus but at a much larger AUM scale and broader sector mandate.
• In-Q-Tel: Strategic, not-for-profit investor that identifies and invests in technologies to support the U.S. intelligence community. Comparable given its government-aligned capital model and portfolio focus on dual-use national security technologies.

Emerging players

• Booz Allen Ventures: Venture arm of Booz Allen Hamilton investing in dual-use defense and federal technology. Comparable as a strategic investor in defense innovation with government-procurement access similar to Mare Liberum's positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mare-liberum

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mare Liberum