Portsmouth maritime technology firm SubSea Craft has acquired a 40% equity interest in Coventry battery developer LORILLION in a multi-million-pound investment, funding a headcount push to more than 70 engineers and a new Midlands production facility due to open in 2027.
SubSea Craft has taken a minority-but-substantial position in LORILLION, a Coventry-based engineering and research company that builds bespoke battery systems for the defence, marine, aerospace and automotive sectors. The two companies described the deal as a strategic partnership rather than an outright acquisition, with SubSea Craft holding 40% of the equity.
The cash figure was not disclosed beyond being in the multi-million-pound range. LORILLION, founded in 2023, specialises in the rapid development of battery packs for demanding, highly regulated applications, offering turnkey services that span concept, design, validation, certification and production.
The capital is earmarked for three things: expanding LORILLION's engineering team to more than 70 people, accelerating its proprietary battery-management technology, and standing up a dedicated battery-pack manufacturing site in the Midlands, scheduled to open next year.
Both parties framed the investment around UK sovereign capability. The stated aim is to strengthen the country's ability to design, industrialise and manufacture specialist battery systems domestically, reducing reliance on overseas supply for defence and marine programmes.
"Our strategic partnership with SubSea Craft will accelerate the development of key battery technologies and a dedicated battery-pack manufacturing capability, enabling a vital end-to-end sovereign capability in the UK," said Richie Frost, chief executive of LORILLION. He added that the investment would let the company offer customers "a complete route from initial battery concept through design, development and testing, to certified production."
SubSea Craft, based in Portsmouth and founded in 2014, develops maritime and amphibious platforms for defence end-users, combining rapid prototyping with open-architecture, software-centric design. Taking a stake in a battery specialist gives it tighter control over a critical component for the discreet manned and unmanned systems it builds for contested environments.
The transaction sits within a busier stretch for UK defence and deep-tech dealmaking. It lands in the same week that Cambridge Aerospace closed a £222m Series C at a $3.4bn valuation, underlining investor appetite for domestic hardware with defence applications.
For LORILLION, the 40% sale hands a strategic partner a board-level seat at the cap table while leaving founders and existing shareholders with majority control. The structure aligns SubSea Craft's platform roadmap with LORILLION's manufacturing build-out, and gives the Coventry company committed capital to scale ahead of the Midlands facility coming online in 2027.
*Original source: EU-Startups
