Director, Head of Research, Smartkarma

Pranav Rao

Director, Head of Research

Smartkarma

Smartkarma unites the fragmented investment industry, connecting institutional investors, independent research providers, and corporates within a single network.

Research Reinvented

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Welcome to Curator’s Cut - a fortnightly roundup of standout themes from the 1,600+ insights published on Smartkarma.</li>
<li>In this cut, we examine the global naval reinvestment cycle, survey stocks benefitting from nuclear power's comeback, and review the case for a couple of confirmed corporate spin-offs.</li>
<li>Want to dig deeper? Comment or message with the themes you’d like to see highlighted next.</li>
</ul>


Welcome to Curator’s Cut - a fortnightly roundup of standout themes from the 1,600+ insights published on Smartkarma.
In this cut, we examine the global naval reinvestment cycle, survey stocks benefitting from nuclear power's comeback, and review the case for a couple of confirmed corporate spin-offs.
Want to dig deeper? Comment or message with the themes you’d like to see highlighted next.


Curator's Cut: Naval Navigations, Nuclear Renaissance & Spin-Off Situations

Private Markets, Angel and Secondary Investing, Sacra

Sacra

Private Markets, Angel and Secondary Investing

Bringing transparency to private markets so investors, founders, and employees can build on conviction. Sacra delivers deeply researched insights on the private companies shaping tomorrow's markets. By surfacing the data, context, and operator perspective that are missing from private markets today, we help secondary buyers and sellers price equity accurately and unlock liquidity for the people building these businesses.

Private Capital Markets

<ul><li>For 80 years, the U.S. Navy projected power through $13B Ford-class aircraft carriers and $2.5B Arleigh Burke destroyers, but China&#39;s shipyards now outproduce U.S. yards by more than 100x in tonnage &amp; China&#39;s fleet already exceeds the U.S. by ship count.</li><li>Trump&#39;s &quot;One Big Beautiful Bill&quot; allocated $5.7B specifically to maritime autonomous systems including $1.5B for small unmanned surface vessels, $2.1B for medium unmanned surface vessels, and $1.3B for unmanned underwater vehicles, while the Navy&#39;s Force Design plan calls for more than 150 new platforms as the service gameplans for Taiwan invasion scenarios where traditional carrier groups are liabilities.</li><li>The unmanned maritime market is sorting into three mission-driven segments based on endurance, speed, and depth, with Saildrone ($43M revenue in 2024, up 231% YoY) building wind-and-solar-powered surveillance drones that sail for 365 days on less than 100 watts, Saronic ($12.5M revenue in 2024) building hybrid attack-and-recon boats that run for 4 weeks at a time, and Anduril ($1B revenue in 2024, up 138% YoY) building heavyweight undersea strike vehicles that slot into the Navy's big-ticket submarine budget.</li></ul>

For 80 years, the U.S. Navy projected power through $13B Ford-class aircraft carriers and $2.5B Arleigh Burke destroyers, but China&#39;s shipyards now outproduce U.S. yards by more than 100x in tonnage &amp; China&#39;s fleet already exceeds the U.S. by ship count.Trump&#39;s &quot;One Big Beautiful Bill&quot; allocated $5.7B specifically to maritime autonomous systems including $1.5B for small unmanned surface vessels, $2.1B for medium unmanned surface vessels, and $1.3B for unmanned underwater vehicles, while the Navy&#39;s Force Design plan calls for more than 150 new platforms as the service gameplans for Taiwan invasion scenarios where traditional carrier groups are liabilities.The unmanned maritime market is sorting into three mission-driven segments based on endurance, speed, and depth, with Saildrone ($43M revenue in 2024, up 231% YoY) building wind-and-solar-powered surveillance drones that sail for 365 days on less than 100 watts, Saronic ($12.5M revenue in 2024) building hybrid attack-and-recon boats that run for 4 weeks at a time, and Anduril ($1B revenue in 2024, up 138% YoY) building heavyweight undersea strike vehicles that slot into the Navy's big-ticket submarine budget.

<ul><li>Saronic is positioning as the “Anduril for the seas,” with autonomous surface vessels sold on fixed-price contracts rather than cost-plus.</li><li>On the back of successful contracts with USSOCOM and the Navy to meet their needs for expendable maritime drones, small unmanned vessels and river-patrol vehicles as the military gameplans for Taiwan invasion scenarios, Sacra estimates that Saronic generated $12.5M in revenue in 2024, with the company projecting $400M in revenue for 2025.</li><li>With ~35% of all Pentagon contracts being awarded to ~5 primes without a competitive process, the Navy's push for 1,000+ new small USVs—along with the Trump administration’s calls for “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” and doing so with cost-efficiency—creates a rare opening for new entrants like Saronic that can sell USVs at $400K to $1.2M each vs. legacy prime programs.</li></ul>

Saronic is positioning as the “Anduril for the seas,” with autonomous surface vessels sold on fixed-price contracts rather than cost-plus.On the back of successful contracts with USSOCOM and the Navy to meet their needs for expendable maritime drones, small unmanned vessels and river-patrol vehicles as the military gameplans for Taiwan invasion scenarios, Sacra estimates that Saronic generated $12.5M in revenue in 2024, with the company projecting $400M in revenue for 2025.With ~35% of all Pentagon contracts being awarded to ~5 primes without a competitive process, the Navy's push for 1,000+ new small USVs—along with the Trump administration’s calls for “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” and doing so with cost-efficiency—creates a rare opening for new entrants like Saronic that can sell USVs at $400K to $1.2M each vs. legacy prime programs.

<ul><li>Shield AI hit $267M in revenue in 2024, up 64% YoY from $163M in 2023.</li><li>Demand has surged for autonomous drones with demonstrated success in combat—driving new contracts for Shield AI with the Romanian Navy (~$30M), Japan’s naval forces, Greece, Canada, and other allies, pushing Sacra-estimated annual revenue to $267M in 2024, up 64% YoY from $163M in 2023.</li><li>With $9.4B in investment committed to autonomous drones for the next fiscal year between the Pentagon’s discretionary budget and billions in new mandatory spending from Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” 2026 is set to be a key year for startups selling into DoD, with Shield AI well-positioned as the U.S.’s leading pure-play drone startup to win in the key categories of 1) small unmanned aerial systems and 2) long-endurance aerial systems for surveillance.</li></ul>

Shield AI hit $267M in revenue in 2024, up 64% YoY from $163M in 2023.Demand has surged for autonomous drones with demonstrated success in combat—driving new contracts for Shield AI with the Romanian Navy (~$30M), Japan’s naval forces, Greece, Canada, and other allies, pushing Sacra-estimated annual revenue to $267M in 2024, up 64% YoY from $163M in 2023.With $9.4B in investment committed to autonomous drones for the next fiscal year between the Pentagon’s discretionary budget and billions in new mandatory spending from Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” 2026 is set to be a key year for startups selling into DoD, with Shield AI well-positioned as the U.S.’s leading pure-play drone startup to win in the key categories of 1) small unmanned aerial systems and 2) long-endurance aerial systems for surveillance.

CHAOS Industries / Private Capital Markets

<ul><li>CHAOS Industries raised $275 million in a Series C round led by New Enterprise Associates and Accel in May 2025, bringing total funding to $490 million.</li><li>The Vanquish radar represents their first commercial application, designed specifically for detecting cheap drones and missiles that traditional radar systems struggle to track cost-effectively.</li><li>CHAOS operates a B2B model selling both hardware platforms and software licenses to defense customers, with a focus on dual-use applications that can serve both military and civilian markets.</li></ul>

CHAOS Industries raised $275 million in a Series C round led by New Enterprise Associates and Accel in May 2025, bringing total funding to $490 million.The Vanquish radar represents their first commercial application, designed specifically for detecting cheap drones and missiles that traditional radar systems struggle to track cost-effectively.CHAOS operates a B2B model selling both hardware platforms and software licenses to defense customers, with a focus on dual-use applications that can serve both military and civilian markets.

United States

Autonomous vessel manufacturer for naval missions in GPS- and comms-denied environments

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Saronic (SARONIC US)

Curator's Cut: Naval Navigations, Nuclear Renaissance & Spin-Off Situations

This Curator's Cut issue highlights global naval reinvestment, nuclear power stocks, and corporate spin-offs from Smartkarma's insights. Comment...

Pranav Rao

$216B Drone Navy

TL;DR: China's 100x shipbuilding advantage and Ukraine's success sinking warships with $250K sea drones are forcing the U.S. Navy to shift from...

Sacra

$12.5M/year Anduril Of The Seas

TL;DR: With China’s shipyards outproducing the U.S. Navy 100x and Ukraine proving $250K sea drones can sink warships, Saronic is positioning as the...

Sacra

Shield AI At $267M/year Growing 64% YoY

TL;DR: In a defense autonomy market flooded with drone startups and rising Pentagon budgets—$300M+ earmarked for low-cost autonomous systems in...

Sacra

Primer: CHAOS Industries - 07 Jul 2025

Technology company developing next-generation defense and critical industry technologies

Sacra

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Curator's Cut: Naval Navigations, Nuclear Renaissance & Spin-Off Situations

​This Curator's Cut issue highlights global naval reinvestment, nuclear power stocks, and corporate spin-offs from Smartkarma's insights. Comment...

Pranav Rao

$216B Drone Navy

TL;DR: China's 100x shipbuilding advantage and Ukraine's success sinking warships with $250K sea drones are forcing the U.S. Navy to shift from...

Sacra

$12.5M/year Anduril Of The Seas

TL;DR: With China’s shipyards outproducing the U.S. Navy 100x and Ukraine proving $250K sea drones can sink warships, Saronic is positioning as the...

Sacra

Shield AI At $267M/year Growing 64% YoY

TL;DR: In a defense autonomy market flooded with drone startups and rising Pentagon budgets—$300M+ earmarked for low-cost autonomous systems in...

Sacra

Primer: CHAOS Industries - 07 Jul 2025

Technology company developing next-generation defense and critical industry technologies

Sacra

This Curator's Cut issue highlights global naval reinvestment, nuclear power stocks, and corporate spin-offs from Smartkarma's insights. Comment...