Agense Stracquadanio
8 min read
09 November 2025
As a PhD and professor of computer engineering at the computer science department of Sapienza University in Rome, Chiara Petrioli’s research focused on the lack of real-time data from the world’s oceans. Her research exposed a persistent blind spot: there was almost no real-time data gathered from the oceans, even though they regulate climate dynamics, host the majority of Earth’s biodiversity, produce over half of the oxygen humans breathe and underpin critical infrastructure.
WSense was founded as a spinoff from Sapienza University in 2012 to address this critical gap. WSense reimagines the subsea network infrastructure by enabling secure underwater communication through subsea wireless communications, often referred to as subsea wifi. It pioneered the IoUT (Internet of Underwater Things) and is transforming the ocean into a data-rich and operational environment, enabling sustainable ocean management and unlocking new opportunities for the blue economy. Founded in Rome, the company now operates across Europe with offices in Norway and the UK with employees in France and the United Arab Emirates.
What inspired the company and what is your mission?
Underwater environments remain largely offline, as traditional cabling is both costly and intrusive. Without continuous data streams and control loops, it's nearly impossible to efficiently protect biodiversity, safeguard critical infrastructure or scale the blue economy. We set out to change this by delivering interoperable, adaptive wireless networks that make subsea assets “talk.”
Recognizing how much of our digital life depends on subsea infrastructure while having so little ability to sense or manage what lies beneath the surface was a catalyst. Equally inspiring was the potential societal impact: deeper climate insights, safer infrastructure and more sustainable marine industries.
Our mission is to give voice to the ocean by enabling a secure and scalable Internet of Underwater Things. When the ocean is continuously monitored and manageable, from coastal waters to the deep sea, then science, industry and policymakers can act on live data. WSense’s work includes real-time environmental monitoring, such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and noise, asset monitoring and closed-loop control operations, including the remote control of autonomous underwater vehicles or actuators.
What were the founding steps?
We transitioned from academic prototypes to a patented product stack, including acoustic and optical multimodal networking, intelligent nodes and gateways, cloud integrations – all validated through deployments with industrial and public partners. Fundraising helped us industrialize and expand internationally, culminating in a €11 million Series A in 2023 and a €10 million pre-Series B in 2025. Strong collaborations across the EU with industrial partners and dedicated investors, along with strategic agreements, accelerated our transition to scalable solutions.
What were some of the biggest challenges?
Turning cutting-edge research into robust, maintainable systems that perform from coastal shallows to depths of 3,000 meters while meeting commercial standards for reliability and cost. This process required multiple iterations and extensive sea trials. One of our biggest technical hurdles was the ineffectiveness of radio waves underwater, which led us to re-think the wifi using adaptive, multi-frequency acoustics and LED-based optical links. We also had to design robust systems capable of withstanding extreme subsea conditions while protecting the ecosystem and ensuring reliability and interoperability at depth.
“Mistakes are inevitable, but what matters is using them as fuel to raise the bar.”
What lessons have you learned so far?
Scaling up is never a straight path. One key lesson we have learned is the importance of an engaged team with whom you truly share values and vision.
What has been the most rewarding part of the journey?
There is nothing more rewarding than seeing heterogeneous subsea networks come alive, exchanging data and commands in real time, and watching customers act on those insights to reduce risk, cut costs and minimize environmental impact.
Why found the company in Rome?
Rome’s academic excellence and national blue-economy initiatives provided us with deep research roots and access to top institutions and talent. From there, London and Bergen extended our reach into finance, industry and North Sea operations.
What's next?
We are developing the next generation of multimodal networking and AI-assisted autonomy to enable broader deployments in energy, critical infrastructure and environmental monitoring. Our focus also includes scaling international projects, expanding our team to support growth and extending operational depth beyond 3,000 meters. At the same time, we are advancing coordinated operations for fleets of autonomous and unmanned underwater vehicles and enhancing seamless cloud integrations.
What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs?
Start with a real, system-level problem, validate solutions in the field early and cultivate partnerships that bridge academia, industry and public stakeholders. In complex domains, it’s ecosystems – not solitary players – that succeed.
What do you think of the startup landscape in Europe?
Europe’s ocean-tech and industrial base is strong, and capital is increasingly aligned with impact. The opportunity now lies in translating world-class research into scalable, export-ready systems built on interoperable standards across borders.
“Embrace a Socratic mindset: stay humble, keep asking questions and learn from every opportunity.”