Reviving American Shipbuilding

The next generation of highly automated commercial shipbuilding.

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Mission

We combine bleeding-edge shipbuilding techniques with AI & robotics to dramatically lower the cost of US-made ships.

Blueprint style image of robotic cold forming of curved plate

Blueprint style image of autonomous mobile robots for materials handling and welding

Blueprint style image of cutting-edge techniques like hybrid laser arc welding

Blueprint style image of factory-scale software to orchestrate every step

Megayard.
The first software-defined ship factory.

Combines bleeding-edge shipbuilding techniques with advanced AI. Targeting launch in 2026.

01

Computer vision weld inspection and deformation prediction

02

Robotic cold forming of curved plate

03

Autonomous mobile robots for materials handling and welding

04

Cutting-edge techniques like hybrid laser arc welding and digital twinning

05

Factory-scale software to orchestrate every step

Gigayard.
The largest, most automated ship factory in the world.

Larger quantities than Megayard. Launch date is TBD.

Key Highlights:

Capacity for 100+ oceangoing vessels per year (>5x current US output)
Largest dry docks ever built in America
Will produce tankers, LNG carriers, container ships, and more
Dual-use for commercial & defense work

Impact

We are transforming the way America builds ships.

We're designing a new type of ship factory that will make US-built ships globally competitive, unlocking a 2-4x cost reduction.

Rendering of what the Megayard could look like at a shipyard

Highly automated operations will
reduce labor intensity by 80%

Efficiency

Design for manufacturability

We design ships to be easier to produce, lowering costs and increasing throughput.

Scalable

Series production

We build a small number of repeatable designs rather than custom one-offs.

Concept rendering of what a Valstad-made tugboat could look like

In-house repeatable designs

Cross-disciplinary team, combining marine, automotive, aerospace, software, and robotics engineering

Multi-discplinary team members

Expertise

Cross-disciplinary team

We combine marine, automotive, aerospace, software and robotics engineering to solve complex problems.

Problem

American shipbuilding is
‍5x more labor-intensive than Japan or South Korea.

US yards are small and inefficient with limited automation & aging workforce compared to its asian counterparts.

Japan

10-15 MH/CGT

S. Korea

10-15 MH/CGT

China

40-50 MH/CGT

America

50+ MH/CGT

Man-Hours per Compensated Gross Tonne (MH/CGT) is often used to compare productivity across different shipyards or projects—lower MH/CGT means higher efficiency.

The sea is the limit.

Starting with the inland fleet and scaling up to mission critical tankers, LNG carriers and more.

TEAM

A team with
the right experience

Dustin Walper

Chief executive Officer, Founder

Experienced tech founder.

Ryan Cook

Chief Operating officer

Ex-USMMI, naval architect.

Zach Azria

Engineering manager

Ex-General Dynamics Electric Boat, naval architect.

Dave Sculthorpe

Advisor

Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering.

Rear Admiral Richard Timme

Advisor

Former 8th Coast Guard District Commander.

Waitlist

Reserve a spot or contact us

We're building Jones Act ships starting in 2026. Please contact us to place advance orders and reserve your spot in the production queue.

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Press Room

Updates on
Valstad

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Valstad Raises $2.6M Pre-seed Round to Revive American Shipbuilding

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