Clippership is a maritime robotics company building autonomous, wind-powered cargo vessels to make ocean and waterway freight cheaper and more sustainable for small shippers. Its first vessel is a 24-metre (79-foot) ship fitted with twin foldable, carbon-composite rigid wingsails for primary propulsion, a climate-controlled hold for 75 Euro-pallets, and sensor systems — including marine radar, FLIR cameras and AIS — designed to support autonomous, point-to-point ocean voyages.
Founded in a Los Angeles garage by brothers Niccolo (Nico) and Luca Cymbalist and Kai Matsuka, who each previously worked at Tesla, Clippership designed the vessel in-house alongside Dykstra Naval Architects and Glosten, with the design classed by RINA. The company has signed a construction contract with Dutch shipyard KM Yachtbuilders for its first ship, due to launch in late 2026 and sail under the Maltese flag on transatlantic and Caribbean routes, and raised a $4.6M seed round backed by Fifty Years.
