# Terradepth

> Terradepth is an Austin-area ocean-data and subsea-intelligence company founded in 2018 by former U.S. Navy SEALs Joe Wolfel and Judson Kauffman. It pairs autonomous underwater vehicles that collect seabed data with Absolute Ocean, a cloud-native, government-grade platform for storing, visualizing, sharing and analyzing that data. Marketed as Ocean-Data-as-a-Service (ODaaS), Terradepth serves defense, offshore energy and maritime customers who need to map, understand and protect the roughly three-quarters of the planet that lies underwater.

- **Founded:** 2018
- **Headquarters:** Cedar Park, Texas, United States
- **Founders:** Joe Wolfel (Co-Founder & CEO), Judson Kauffman (Co-Founder)
- **Team size:** ~49 employees
- **Products:** Absolute Ocean, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs / UUVs), Ocean-Data-as-a-Service (ODaaS)
- **Notable:** Raised roughly $30M total across seed and Series A rounds., Launched Absolute Ocean, marketed as an ocean-data-as-a-service platform delivering cloud-based maps within 24 hours., Selected into the U.S. Navy's NIWC Atlantic RCC Hopper as a government-evaluated, immediately available prototype solution.

## Products & services

- **Absolute Ocean** — A secure, cloud-native ocean-data platform for uploading, storing, visualizing, sharing and analyzing subsea data, with analytics, real-time collaboration and change-detection. Runs on AWS GovCloud with FedRAMP and IL4/IL5 compliance for classified operations.
- **Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs / UUVs)** — Long-range autonomous submersibles - sometimes called 'Buddy Drones' - that operate in synchronized tandem like SEAL dive teams, collecting seabed data at depths reported up to 6,000 meters.
- **Ocean-Data-as-a-Service (ODaaS)** — A vertically integrated service spanning robotic subsea data collection through processed-data delivery in Absolute Ocean, sold as low-carbon survey and subscription-style data access.

## Achievements

- Raised roughly $30M total across seed and Series A rounds.
- Launched Absolute Ocean, marketed as an ocean-data-as-a-service platform delivering cloud-based maps within 24 hours.
- Selected into the U.S. Navy's NIWC Atlantic RCC Hopper as a government-evaluated, immediately available prototype solution.
- Awarded a five-year offshore-energy Master Services Agreement, starting with an APAC LNG terminal.
- Featured by Forbes, TechCrunch and Texas Monthly for its ocean-mapping mission.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Defense.info profiles Terradepth's 'ocean operating system' approach - seabed-to-cloud subsea intelligence.
- **2026-04** — U.S. Navy adds Absolute Ocean via NIWC Atlantic RCC Hopper, enabling rapid prototype OT agreements.
- **2025-03** — Terradepth showcases enhanced Absolute Ocean capabilities at Sea-Air-Space 2025.
- **2024-11** — Absolute Ocean formally launched, delivering cloud-based maps and data within 24 hours.

## Links

- Website: https://terradepth.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/terradepth
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/terradepth
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7RGZE06D4

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/terradepth
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-17