Anahita Laverack, a former aspiring aerospace engineer and experienced sailor, has founded an ocean technology company that is transforming how data is collected at sea. The idea for Oshen emerged after Laverack entered the Microtransat Challenge in 2021, a competition that tasks participants with sending autonomous sail powered robots across the Atlantic Ocean. After her robot failed, she concluded that the problem was not only the harsh marine environment but also the lack of reliable ocean data needed to guide autonomous systems.
Seeking answers, Laverack attended international marine and robotics conferences, where she discovered that comprehensive ocean data collection remained a major gap in the industry. Rather than finding ready solutions, she encountered researchers and organizations willing to pay her to gather the data herself. This demand led to the founding of Oshen in April 2022 alongside electrical engineer Ciaran Dowds. The company set out to build fleets of small autonomous robots capable of surviving extended periods at sea while collecting critical environmental data.
Oshen initially took a frugal and unconventional approach to development. The founders chose not to pursue venture capital at launch, instead pooling personal savings to buy a 25 foot sailboat that doubled as both home and testing platform. Over two years, they continuously refined their robots, deploying them in real world conditions across all seasons. Laverack said the challenges of testing during winter storms underscored the need for robust and resilient systems, pushing the team to improve durability, autonomy, and cost efficiency at scale.
The company’s breakthrough came when its C Star robots caught the attention of the U S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. After earlier technical limitations, Oshen was invited back ahead of the 2025 hurricane season and deployed more than 15 robots near the U S Virgin Islands in the path of Hurricane Humberto. Three of the robots survived the Category Five storm and collected data throughout, a first for ocean robotics. Now based in Plymouth, England, Oshen has secured contracts with government and defense agencies and plans to raise venture capital to meet growing demand.