A Panthalassa wave energy system. (LinkedIn Photo)
Wave energy had largely been bobbing around in the background of the U.S. clean energy sector — until now. On Monday, Oregon-based Panthalassa announced a $140 million round led by Peter Thiel.
The new funding from the PayPal co-founder and others will allow the startup to finish building its pilot manufacturing facility near Portland. Panthalassa is developing technology that pairs wave power generated by massive floating orbs with onsite AI computing. The systems transmit data via low-Earth-orbit satellites.
“We’ve built a technology platform that operates in the planet’s most energy-dense wave regions, far from shore, and turns that resource into reliable clean power,” said Garth Sheldon-Coulson, Panthalassa’s co-founder and CEO, in a statement. “We’re now ready to build factories, deploy fleets, and provide a sustainable new source of energy for humanity.”
The planet is scrambling to find new energy sources to meet demand from data centers and electrified transportation, building heating and cooling, and industrial applications.
One of the biggest challenges historically with wave power is the need to build costly infrastructure to move energy from the ocean to where it’s needed. Panthalassa’s approach sidesteps that problem by using power onsite to run already-trained AI models, while tapping cold ocean water to cool the hardware — solving two problems at once.
The strategy shares parallels with surging interest in space-based data centers that harness solar energy. In March, Starcloud, a Redmond, Wash.-based startup, announced $170 million in new funding, vaulting it to unicorn status with a $1.1 billion valuation.
“The future demands more compute than we can imagine,” said Peter Thiel. “Extra-terrestrial solutions are no longer science fiction. Panthalassa has opened the ocean frontier.”
A Panthalassa energy system in port. (LinkedIn Photo)
Founded in 2016 as a public benefit corporation, Panthalassa has spent nearly a decade developing power generation, propulsion, autonomous operations and computing technology. That work has included prototypes — Ocean-1, Ocean-2 and Wavehopper — deployed in sea trials in 2021 and 2024. The company is now preparing to deploy its Ocean-3 pilot series this year, with commercial systems planned for 2027.
Sheldon-Coulson previously served as a senior investment associate at Bridgewater Associates. Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder Brian Moffat developed a novel wave energy system for Spindrift Energy before launching Panthalassa. The company has 120 employees.
Other Pacific Northwest companies pursuing wave energy include Seattle’s Oscilla Power and Oregon State University spinout C-Power. Wave energy startups that have exceeded $100 million in investment globally include Sweden’s CorPower Ocean and the United Kingdom’s Marine Power Systems.
The Series B round included participation from new investors John Doerr, Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures, Max Levchin’s SciFi Ventures, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Hanwha Group, Anthony Pratt, Fortescue Ventures, Future Positive, WTI, Nimble Partners, Super Micro Computer, Sozo Ventures, Dylan Field, Planetary VC, Leblon Capital, Resilience Reserve, Portland Seed Fund, and the Intrepid Oregon Fund.
Returning investors include Founders Fund, Gigascale Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, Unless and WovenEarth. Panthalassa has raised a total of $210 million, a spokesperson confirmed.
Editor’s note: Headcount and total funding updated with new information from Panthalassa.
