The VCT-backed technology that can live-stream 3D from the ocean bed 6km deep

The deepest part of the ocean floor, not including features like the Mariana Trench, lies six kilometres below sea level. 

It is from this depth that marine-surveying company Rovco can live-stream ultra-precise 3D digital twins of structures and terrain, to devices anywhere in the world. Rovco believes it’s the world’s first technology to do so.

The Bristol-based young business is backed by Foresight Technology VCT. The VCT is a collaboration between alternative asset manager Foresight Group and WAE (formerly Williams Advanced Engineering), a specialist engineering business spun out from the Williams Formula 1 team.

Learn more about Rovco’s ground-breaking technology, why Foresight has invested £2.6 million to date, WAE’s engineering value-add – and how you can invest in the company and similar ones through Foresight Technology VCT.

More about Rovco

The blue economy – the sustainable use of marine environments for economic growth and livelihoods – is estimated to be worth £3.2 trillion globally by 2030.

Many of its activities – for instance, building and maintaining offshore wind farms or decommissioning oil rigs – require underwater inspections and deep-sea data collecting.

Conventionally, this is done by teams that might spend months in the harsh conditions at sea. Using remotely-operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), they gather measurements and typically low-quality video feeds, to eventually take back to shore for analysis. Slow, expensive and highly labour-intensive, it’s been estimated a large, crewed vessel doing a deep-sea survey can cost up to £10 million a month. 

To simplify and improve the process, Rovco has developed AI robotics that can gather far more precise data, and in a fraction of the time – saving project costs and human exposure to hazardous environments. 

Established in 2015, the company designs and manufactures its own vessels and ROVs. Its ROVs are fitted with 3D computer vision technology, to capture high-definition data and live-stream it to any location.

The patented system collects a 3D cloud of individual data points and combines them with camera images to generate a realistic 3D reconstruction, a digital twin. It’s claimed to be the first underwater system to deliver this, with sub-millimetre precision, in real-time. 

This is now used by Rovco’s clients in the energy and marine ecology industries. The technology enables engineers, researchers, salvagers and surveyors to de-risk and make better-informed decisions around their deepwater projects – without a wait of weeks or months, as with other inspection methods.

Rovco has developed all its hardware and software in-house and has filed three patent families covering various aspects of its technology. It is developing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to independently carry out subsea surveys – saving the cost of manually piloting ROVs.

Why did Foresight WAE Technology (FWT) invest in Rovco?

The Foresight WAE Technology (FWT) team is building a strong reputation as an experienced deeptech investor.

FWT first invested £2 million in Rovco in December 2019, via the Foresight WAE Technology EIS fund. In March 2022 it followed on with £600k, investing via the EIS fund and Foresight Technology VCT – FWT shares.

At the time of the initial investment, the company’s revenue was in the low millions; this has since grown nearly tenfold. 

Foresight invested in Rovco for five key reasons:

1. Disruptive and defensible technology – Rovco was well positioned to disrupt the subsea surveying market through its ability to gather and process data more quickly, safely and with higher levels of accuracy. The company has since built out its technology portfolio.
2. Strong team with a roadmap to commercialisation – the founder and CEO, Brian Allen, is experienced in the sector and the company had already won several survey service contacts with major offshore wind operators. Brian has attracted a world class management team.
3. Large addressable market – when FWT first invested, the market for surveys of offshore infrastructure using subsea robotics was estimated to be around $30 billion a year.
4. The chance to offer FWT value-add – Rovco was keen to work with WAE to redesign its camera hardware and electronic systems, so they could operate at greater depths, with better thermal management and more processing power.
5. ESG impact – Rovco’s advanced monitoring of sub-sea infrastructure, including wind farms, helps to improve their operation and reduce maintenance costs – supporting the transition to a low carbon energy system.

Foresight Technology VCT - FWT Shares: NAV and cumulative dividends per share over five years (p)