Saronic Technologies announced on Tuesday that it had closed a $600m Series C financing round led by Elad Gil. This funding round valued the autonomous shipbuilding firm at $4 billion.

The company announced that it would use the funds to build Port Alpha, which is a shipyard designed to deliver new classes of unmanned vessels needed to defend maritime domain.

Saronic has received the support of General Catalyst, a new investor. Its investors include a16z Caffeinated Capital, and 8VC.

As interest rates are cut, venture firms feel more comfortable signing large checks.

PitchBook's report shows that global venture capital activity increased by more than 5% last year to reach $368.5 billion. (Reporting and editing by Shilpi Mahumdar in Bengaluru, Ananya Mariamrajesh, Niket Nishant)

(source: Reuters)