MerLion Advisory Group
Company description
MerLion Advisory Group provides Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) and Response services for seaports, coastal waters, and inland waterways — combining unmanned surface and subsurface sensor systems (sonar, LiDAR, camera, and water-chemistry sensors, developed under a concept the company calls "HydraCat") with a team of highly experienced human operators to deliver what Tyler calls "720-degree" situational awareness: above, on, and below the water's surface. Clients span commercial infrastructure operators, the energy industry, state and federal agencies, and international clients focused on aquaculture sustainability and marine resource protection. The company has been through both of BCIC's major Startup Texas tracks — the original 2021 Pitch Summit and the 2023 SBIR/STTR Innovation Competition — and has continued receiving follow-on grant support from BCIC and TEES since.
Founder Arnie Tyler is a retired U.S. Navy Captain with more than 30 years of experience in maritime safety, security, and environmental operations, both in the Navy and in the energy industry, including work as a Facility Security Officer advising companies pursuing classified government contracts. He founded MerLion in December 2017, and shifted the company's focus toward unmanned technology solutions during COVID to improve personnel safety while expanding marine ecosystem awareness. His team is unusually senior for a Rio Grande Valley startup: retired Admiral Scott Jerabek, whose last active duty post was Deputy Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, serves as Strategic Advisor; retired Command Master Chief Randy Dobbins, with 30+ years building high-performance port security and harbor defense teams, is VP of Operations; Steve Morris, a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Secret Service's Technical Services Division, contributes electronic detection systems expertise; and retired Navy Senior Chief Dan Randall, former owner of an anti-piracy maritime operations company, leads marine training.
Founder: Arnie Tyler, Captain, U.S. Navy (ret.)
Program: 2021 StartUp Texas Pitch Summit; 2023 Startup Texas SBIR/STTR Innovation Competition; multiple additional SBIR-graduate subgrants from BCIC and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) through 2024–2025
Website: merlionadvisory.com
LinkedIn (company): linkedin.com/company/merlion-advisory-group
Email: atyler@merlionadvisory.com