St. John’s marine robotics company Kraken Robotics, which was the top performing tech stock on the TSX Venture exchange last year, has announced a lucrative new deal to participate in survey work in the North Sea.

Under the contract with Dutch subsea cabling company N-Sea, Kraken will use its in-house sonar technology to check that electrical cables running along the seafloor remain properly buried.

In a statement last week, Kraken declined to name the total value of the contract, but said it had already made $1.4 million from the deal this quarter.

"This project with N-Sea is one of several new, exciting and challenging sub-seabed services projects already secured by Kraken Robotics in Q1, a period that is traditionally slow for survey," said Kraken's executive vice president of services, Moya Cahill, in a statement. "Our leading SBI technology and expertise will support our clients in their critical cable depth of burial and boulder detection surveys."

Kraken is conducting the survey work using its 3D acoustic Sub-Bottom Imager, or SBI, system, which it has already moved on to a ship owned by N-Sea.

Last month, the TSX Venture announced that Kraken was the top performing technology sector company on the exchange, according to its yearly Venture 50 rankings which consider movements in businesses’ share prices, market capitalizations and trading volumes.

Shares in Kraken rose 52 percent over the course of the year to end at 56 cents, and have since increased further to 58 cents — up from a low of 30 cents in July. Its market cap likewise rose by 52 percent to just under $115 million in 2022, placing it among the most valuable startups in Newfoundland and Labrador’s history.

The company released a financial update in January saying it booked about $40 million in revenue in the fiscal year ended Dec. 31. It expects to post 2022 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of between $5 million and $7 million.

Those represent increases from $15 million of revenue in 2021 and EBITDA of about $3 million.

“2022 was a strong year for Kraken,” CEO Greg Reid said previously. “Against the headwinds of continued supply chain tightness, inflationary pressures, and a tight labor market, we still delivered record financial results.

“In addition, we recently announced our largest award ever, a $50 million contract for the Canadian Navy’s Remote Minehunting and Disposal System and landed several other significant contracts, including a $14 million subsea battery contract and a $9 million KATFISH contract with a NATO navy customer.”