OceanGate is in the midst of a $5.1 million investment round aimed at pushing the Everett, Wash.-based company closer to a Titanic undersea adventure.
The round was reported today in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Joel Perry, OceanGate’s director of media and marketing, told GeekWire that the privately held company’s existing investors have already filled out much of the funding. He declined to identify the investors.
The money will give OceanGate “a little more runway” as it finishes work on its Cyclops 2 deep-sea submersible, Perry said.
OceanGate’s team has nearly completed construction of Cyclops 2 at the company’s Everett marina workshop. Perry said the pressure vessel underwent testing this week to make sure there were no leaks.
“It’s a perfect seal,” Perry said.
The final phases of construction and testing are due to continue into the new year. OceanGate’s schedule calls for shallow-water test dives to take place in Puget Sound next month, with deep-water tests to follow in the Bahamas next spring.
If all goes according to plan, Cyclops 2 will carry a series of five-person crews to the Titanic shipwreck, 13,000 feet down at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, during a seven-week expedition starting in June. The crews will include marine scientists as well as mission specialists who are paying more than $100,000 to be on the trip.
