Executive Summary
Kraken Robotics did not simply acquire another underwater technology company. It acquired many of the building blocks required to create a complete subsea intelligence system.
With Covelya Group, Kraken gains underwater navigation, acoustic positioning, communications, survey software, imaging sonar, optical inspection and environmental sensing. Combined with Kraken’s synthetic aperture sonar, subsea batteries, towed platforms and survey services, this creates one of the strongest independent technology portfolios in the maritime market.
The industry has spent decades buying platforms, sensors and software from different suppliers, then paying someone else to make everything communicate. We politely call this systems integration. Customers often call it something less printable.
Kraken wants to reduce that integration burden by controlling more of the subsea technology stack. The opportunity is substantial. So is the risk.
Two Histories, One Direction
Kraken was founded in Newfoundland in 2012 and built its reputation around compact synthetic aperture sonar, including AquaPix SAS, the KATFISH towed system and SeaPower pressure-tolerant batteries.
Covelya has a much longer history. Its roots reach back to Sonardyne, founded in 1971. Sonardyne became a leading supplier of underwater acoustic positioning, navigation and communications. The wider Covelya group later brought together EIVA, Chelsea Technologies, Wavefront Systems, Voyis and defence integrator Forcys.
Kraken announced the acquisition in March 2026 and completed it on July 2 for approximately C$615 million, including C$480 million in cash and C$135 million in shares.
That is a serious cheque. But Kraken was not buying revenue alone. It was buying the missing pieces of a much larger system.
Building the Subsea Stack
Kraken already had powerful underwater eyes and a large battery.
Covelya adds much of the nervous system.
Sonardyne brings navigation, positioning and communications. EIVA contributes NaviSuite software for mission planning, survey acquisition and data processing. Wavefront adds Solstice side-scan sonar, Vigilant forward-looking sonar and Sentinel intruder detection sonar. Voyis provides optical imaging and laser scanning. Chelsea contributes environmental sensors, while Forcys packages these capabilities for defense customers.
Now combine SeaPower batteries, Sonardyne navigation, Kraken SAS, Wavefront sonar and EIVA software inside one autonomous underwater vehicle.
That could reduce interface risk, shorten integration schedules and simplify support. It also allows products to be developed together rather than connected through a collection of cables, specifications and increasingly desperate engineering meetings.
The combined organization will have approximately 1,200 employees, more than 700 customers and over 110 issued or pending patents.
Kraken can now pursue larger integrated programs in mine countermeasures, seabed warfare, offshore inspection, critical underwater infrastructure protection and persistent ocean monitoring.
How Will It Be Structured?
Kraken Group will focus on corporate and financial governance. Kraken Robotics will operate the products, technologies, systems, services and commercial activities.
Greg Reid remains CEO, with Bernard Mills serving as President. Several former Covelya executives will lead technology, products and enterprise performance.
The structure is logical. The challenge will be preserving the specialist cultures and customer relationships within Sonardyne, EIVA, Wavefront and the other businesses.
Buying excellent companies is easier than integrating excellent engineers.
Final Ping
Customers should benefit from fewer interfaces, broader support and lower integration risk. But vertical integration can also create dependency.
When one supplier provides the battery, navigation, sonar, communications and software, replacing one component may become difficult. The integration tax may fall, while the cost of supplier lock-in rises.
The real question is whether customers should embrace the complete stack or preserve room for alternative sensors, software and future upgrades.
What do you think? Does this acquisition simplify subsea operations, or concentrate too much capability under one roof?
At Strategic Sonar Solutions, I help clients assess sonar payloads, autonomous platforms, and system architectures before expensive choices become permanent. Sometimes full integration is the right answer. Sometimes independence is the more valuable capability.
Originally published in the Strategic Pings ))) newsletter on LinkedIn on 2026-08-06. Subscribe there to get new editions first.