URI Innovations has announced that Juice Robotics, a University of Rhode Island (URI) spinout company, has secured venture investment from Rogue Island Ventures and licensed four URI-developed technologies, marking a major milestone in the company’s transition from university research to commercial venture. The development underscores the momentum of URI’s innovation ecosystem and its ability to translate cutting-edge research into products and companies with real-world economic impact.
Founded by URI alumnus Matthew Jewell and URI Professor Brennan Phillips and led by former IBM executive and current CEO Stephen Piper, Juice Robotics is developing next-generation ocean technologies that dramatically reduce the size, complexity, and cost of underwater operations. The company’s innovations span underwater sensing, communications, and robotic systems with applications across commercial, scientific, and defense sectors.
Through the agreement, Juice Robotics has secured rights to a portfolio of URI-developed technologies that will help advance the company’s product development and commercialization efforts. Together, the technologies address challenges in underwater sensing, communications, and robotics, with the potential to make ocean operations more efficient, accessible, and cost-effective.
“This important milestone reflects the strength and importance of the work being done by URI researchers and entrepreneurs,” said Pete Rumsey, Associate Vice President for Economic Development, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at URI. “Juice Robotics has built an impressive company around technologies developed at URI, with the support of URI Innovations and our RISE-UP programming at every step, and the combination of a significant technology license and venture investment positions the team for continued growth. Juice Robotics’ successes wonderfully illustrate the tangible emergence of Rhode Island as a national Ocean Tech Hub, and our long-term vision of the rapidly growing URI Narragansett Bay Campus as an engine for Rhode Island being recognized the ‘Silicon Valley of Blue Technology.'”
Juice Robotics emerged from URI’s broader innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, benefiting from programs and resources offered through URI Innovations and the RISE-UP program, a US Office of Naval Research-supported initiative focused on accelerating innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology commercialization for dual-use solutions. Along the way, the company received entrepreneurial training, mentorship, intellectual property support, and commercialization guidance.
For the past two years, Juice Robotics has operated from the Ocean Technology Center pilot incubator at URI’s Bay Campus, where early-stage companies have access to workspace, specialized facilities, and a collaborative network of entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry partners. The company’s growth exemplifies the potential of URI’s innovation ecosystem and has helped inform URI Innovations’ plans for the full-scale Ocean Technology Innovation Center, which will be located adjacent to the future Ocean Technology Complex and serve as an anchor for a planned Ocean Innovation District. In 2025, Juice Robotics also participated in the inaugural URI Tech Showcase, where it connected with investors and innovation leaders—including an early introduction to Rogue Island Ventures.
Stephen Piper, CEO of Juice Robotics, emphasized the company’s deep Rhode Island roots and vision for the future of the state’s maritime economy.
“Juice Robotics is a uniquely Rhode Island story. Our company was born from research at the University of Rhode Island, built by URI students, faculty, and alumni, and is now supported by a Rhode Island investor and institutions that believe in innovation-driven growth. We are standing on generations of expertise in shipbuilding, composites, ocean science, and national defense that have defined this state’s economy for centuries. By combining that heritage with breakthrough technologies developed at our flagship university, we’re creating a new generation of maritime capabilities that can compete on a global stage while accelerating Rhode Island’s blue economy. We’re extremely grateful to both URI and Rogue Island Ventures for this exciting opportunity.”
Tom Sperry, Managing Partner at Rogue Island Ventures, said the investment reflects the firm’s confidence in both the company and Rhode Island’s innovation ecosystem. “One of Rogue’s core beliefs is that world-class companies can be built here in Rhode Island. Juice Robotics embodies that thesis: dedicated founders, differentiated technology born out of URI, and a commitment to solving meaningful challenges in the blue economy. We’re proud to support a company that demonstrates how Rhode Island’s research institutions, entrepreneurial talent, and strong local ecosystem can come together to create lasting economic and societal impact here in Rhode Island and beyond.”
Among the technologies licensed by Juice Robotics is High Dive, an innovative platform connecting aerial and underwater systems through an ultra-light fiber-optic tether that enables real-time communications, sensing, and control without the cost and complexity of traditional offshore operations.
“As we continue building URI’s innovation ecosystem, stories like Juice Robotics show what is possible when research, entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and investment come together,” Rumsey said. “The milestone reflects the type of commercialization outcome URI Innovations and all of our ecosystem partners in our future URI Innovation Hub aim to support, accelerating promising dual-use technologies from research and discovery toward startup formation, private investment, and market adoption. We’re proud to have supported the founders throughout that journey and excited to see what comes next.”
