Tesla layoffs create opportunities for US boat builder

Saronic Technologies plans to hire more than 100 technicians after Tesla sheds thousands of jobs in Austin, Texas area.

Start-up boat builder Saronic Technologies has announced plans to significantly expanding its Austin, Texas-area manufacturing and R&D facilities by taking advantage of mass layoffs in the region from a technology giant – Tesla.

One of Saronic Technologies’ autonomous boat testbeds maneuvers in the Gulf of Mexico neat Galveston, Texas

The startup, which raised US$55m in seed funding last October, says it has acquired a new, 65,000 ft2 manufacturing facility in the Austin area and plans to double its workforce by the end of this year, bringing the total number of employees to more than 200.

Founded in 2022, the firm says the opportunity to employ a number of ex-Tesla engineers represents a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to leapfrog competitors in the fledgling autonomous boat market. The EV builder eliminated 2,700 jobs at its Texas gigafactory in late April as part of a larger downsizing driven by shrinking revenues.

Saronic Technologies co-founder and CEO Dino Mavrookas aims to leapfrog competitors by leveraging an opportunity to hire 100 or more former Tesla engineers

“Tesla is a leading technology company that also builds hardware products (and) leads the industry in self-driving vehicles,” said Saronic Technologies co-founder and CEO, Dino Mavrookas. “There’s a lot of overlap to what they’re doing and what we’re doing in boats. And I can imagine there’ll be a great fit for some of those folks at Saronic.”

The startup is trying to recruit ex-Tesla staffers to fill a number of technical positions including electrical engineers, manufacturing engineers, front-end software engineers, floor supervisors and field support technicians.

“We’re a technology and software company that delivers our capabilities through boats,” said Mavrookas. “Our vision is to have production and assembly lines that are eventually rolling out thousands and thousands of autonomous surface vessels and really doing it right here in Austin.”

Saronic, which also operates a 5,000 ft2 remote facility in the Galveston area where it tests its autonomous navigation platform, is currently developing three separate self-driving boat products. The company is initially pitching its vessels to the US military in the hopes of securing a lucrative drone contract, with plans to potentially expand the product line and enter the commercial market in time.