KEKOVA

What KEKOVA does

KEKOVA is a privately held Physical AI company building a vertically integrated platform for maritime infrastructure, founded by Erkan Taş, a product leader whose prior experience spans Google/Waymo's simulation platform, Uber ATG/Aurora's robotics ML platforms, and AWS's SageMaker. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company targets three customer segments: autonomy developers building maritime systems, port operators managing vessel traffic and equipment coordination, and defense and logistics partners requiring mission-critical intelligence. Its architecture is organized into four tightly-coupled layers — multimodal sensor infrastructure at real ports, real-time physics-grounded world models with closed-loop multi-agent simulation, a maritime-native multimodal foundation model, and a developer platform with an open Python SDK (pip install kekova-sdk).

The platform's core technical proposition is a compounding data flywheel: every instrumented port produces calibrated, time-aligned multimodal ground-truth data that trains dynamic world models, world models drive closed-loop simulation, and both feed the maritime foundation model, which is designed for cross-embodiment generalization across vessel classes (container ships, tugs, autonomous surface vessels, harbor craft) and port equipment (cranes, AGVs, terminal tractors). The sensor stack integrates cameras, LiDAR, radar, AIS, hydrophones, and environmental sensors with edge compute for time-sync, calibration, and sensor fusion. The company frames its differentiator as eliminating the domain gap between synthetic training and real-world deployment by using identical world models for both simulation and live operation, and explicitly positions its vertically integrated architecture as a moat where no single layer is useful in isolation.

Commercially, KEKOVA describes four revenue streams: developer platform access via subscription, sensor infrastructure deployment as hardware sales at ports, recurring subscription revenue from the real-time decision engine for port operators, and managed-services contracts for mission-critical defense and logistics deployments. Distribution combines a self-serve developer channel through the open SDK with direct enterprise sales to port operators and defense agencies. The company claims a global footprint spanning North America, Asia-Pacific, Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Africa, though no specific port deployments, customer logos, pricing, revenue figures, or funding rounds are publicly disclosed.

Name

KEKOVA

Website

https://kekova.ai

Company type

Private

Founded year

2026

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

KEKOVA is a Physical AI platform company building a vertically integrated four-layer stack — multimodal port sensors, real-time world models with simulation, a maritime foundation model, and an open developer SDK — to enable progressive autonomy for ports, vessels, and defense/logistics operators globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Physical AI Platform

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHDAEANAC

Model Serving, Inference & Deployment Platforms (APIs, Edge/On-Prem)

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Enterprise Platforms & Databases/Artificial Intelligence Platforms for Enterprise

SECONDARYHDABADAI

Platform Engineering & Internal Developer Platforms (IDP) for Compute

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Cloud & Data Center Infrastructure/Compute Infrastructure (Servers, Virtualization, Containers)

SECONDARYHDAAABAF

Model Deployment, Serving & Inference Platforms

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning/ML Platforms, MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management

SECONDARYIMABAIAE

Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) & Autonomous Maritime Surface Platforms

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing/Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) & Autonomous Platforms

Keywords

• Maritime physical AI
• Port automation platform
• Maritime foundation model
• Autonomy developer SDK
• Port sensor infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco Bay Area

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Developer Platform Access: Platform access revenue from autonomy developers building maritime autonomy applications using the open SDK, scenario framework, and evaluation environment. Developers pay for platform access to build, simulate, and validate maritime autonomy systems.
2. Sensor Infrastructure Deployment: Deployment of sensor infrastructure at ports, including cameras, LiDAR, radar, AIS, hydrophones, environmental sensors, and edge compute. Revenue from instrumenting real ports with the sensor and data infrastructure layer.
3. Real-Time Decision Engine / Intelligence Layer: Real-time situational intelligence and decision engine for port operators, providing progressively autonomous coordination capabilities. Revenue from decision support and autonomy software delivered as a service.
4. Mission-Critical Full-Stack Deployment: Full-stack deployment for defense and logistics partners with data and inference SLAs required for mission environments. Enterprise-level contracts for mission-critical maritime intelligence.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

KEKOVA builds and sells a vertically-integrated Physical AI platform for maritime infrastructure, comprising four tightly-coupled layers: (1) multimodal sensor infrastructure (cameras, LiDAR, radar, AIS, hydrophones, environmental sensors) deployed at real ports with edge compute; (2) real-time, physics-grounded port world models with closed-loop multi-agent simulation; (3) a maritime-native multimodal foundation model for cross-embodiment across vessels and port equipment; and (4) an open Developer Platform (Python SDK, scenario framework, evaluation environment, decision engine) that packages the full stack for autonomy developers, port operators, and defense and logistics partners.

Product overview

KEKOVA is a vertically-integrated Physical AI platform for maritime infrastructure comprising four tightly-coupled layers: (1) Sensor + Data Infrastructure — cameras, LiDAR, radar, AIS, hydrophones, and environmental sensors deployed at real ports with edge compute for multimodal ground-truth data; (2) World Models and Simulation — real-time, physics-grounded representations of ports and waters with closed-loop multi-agent simulation; (3) Maritime Foundation Model — a multimodal, multi-agent foundation model for cross-embodiment generalization across vessels and port equipment; and (4) Developer Platform — an open SDK, scenario framework, evaluation environment, and decision engine. These four layers form one compounding system where sensor data trains world models, world models drive simulation, simulation expands the developer platform, and the platform generates the next generation of maritime data.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sensor + Data Infrastructure (Layer 1) Multimodal sensor infrastructure (cameras, LiDAR, radar, AIS, hydrophones, environmental sensors) deployed at real ports with edge compute handling time-sync, calibration, sensor fusion, and streaming; produces calibrated, time-aligned multimodal ground-truth data that feeds the rest of KEKOVA's stack. Targeted at port operators and defense/logistics partners who need instrumented real-port data as the foundation for maritime AI.
• World Models and Simulation (Layer 2) Real-time, physics-grounded representations of specific ports and surrounding waters (vessels, berths, cranes, containers, yard equipment, weather, tides, currents, traffic) continuously updated from live sensor streams, plus closed-loop multi-agent simulation built on the same world models deployed systems use. Designed to eliminate the sim-to-real domain gap; supports evaluation of decision consequences before commitment.
• Maritime Foundation Model (Layer 3) A maritime-native multimodal, multi-agent foundation model designed for cross-embodiment generalization across container ships, tugs, autonomous surface vessels, harbor craft, cranes, AGVs, terminal tractors, and coordination surfaces such as berth allocation, traffic management, and multi-vessel maneuvering. Grounded in real-world data from every instrumented deployment.
• Developer Platform (Layer 4) Open SDK accessible via 'pip install kekova-sdk', scenario framework grounded in real-port world models, reproducible evaluation environment, and decision engine that moves from decision support toward progressively autonomous coordination. For autonomy developers building, simulating, and validating maritime autonomy, and for port operators needing real-time decision support and progressive autonomy.

Quantifiable outcome

• Data compounding: Every port instrumented becomes a permanent contributor to the maritime data foundation
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ABB Marine & Ports: ABB delivers automation, electric propulsion, and port automation (including crane and yard control) to container terminals and ship operators globally, representing the established incumbent stack that KEKOVA's unified intelligence layer would replace or augment.
• Kongsberg Maritime: Kongsberg supplies vessel and port automation, dynamic positioning, and integrated maritime operations software to navies, ports, and offshore operators worldwide. It is the dominant broad incumbent whose installed base and procurement relationships KEKOVA must address.
• Wärtsilä Voyage: Wärtsilä Voyage (and Wärtsilä SmartShip / SmartPort) provides port operations, voyage optimization, and maritime digital services across container terminals and shipping fleets, overlapping with KEKOVA's port-operator decision-support and berth-optimization thesis.

Emerging players

• Shield AI: Shield AI builds autonomous aircraft and AI-driven defense systems (Hivemind) using world models and simulation, mirroring KEKOVA's combination of real-time simulation, foundation-model autonomy, and government end customers.
• Skydio: Skydio combines deployed autonomy sensors, computer-vision AI, and a developer/enterprise platform for autonomous flight in defense and infrastructure inspection, offering a useful comparison point for KEKOVA's sensor-deployment-plus-developer-platform model.
• Wayve: Wayve develops end-to-end AI driving models for autonomous vehicles using foundation models and world models, the closest pure-software analogue to KEKOVA's maritime foundation-model approach adapted to a different physical domain.
• Anduril Industries: Anduril is a vertically integrated defense technology company building sensor towers, autonomy, and Lattice software for military customers — directly comparable to KEKOVA's Physical AI stack + defense/logistics mission-critical deployment model.
• Physical Intelligence: Physical Intelligence builds foundation models for general-purpose robotics, sharing KEKOVA's conviction that cross-embodiment Physical AI plus world-model simulation is the right architectural primitive — though applied to manipulation rather than maritime.

Direct peers

• Saildrone: Saildrone operates a fleet of autonomous uncrewed surface vehicles for ocean data collection and maritime domain awareness. It overlaps with KEKOVA on autonomous maritime platforms, sensor-driven world models, and defense/maritime-security use cases.
• Sea Machines Robotics: Sea Machines builds autonomous control and perception systems for commercial marine vessels, making it the closest direct competitor to KEKOVA's autonomy layer for workboats, tugboats, and harbor craft. Both target progressive autonomy in real-world port and coastal environments.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kekova_ai
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kekova-ai

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about KEKOVA