Satellite-based maritime analytics developer Windward Ltd. has raised $5 million its first financing round from Israeli venture capital fund Aleph. The company will use the proceeds to expand its services and enter new markets. It is also hiring engineers, data scientists and salespeople for its Tel Aviv office.
Windward was founded in 2010 by CEO Matan Peled and VP product Ami Daniel, both former Israel Navy officers. The SaaS and big data company applies the recent exponential growth in the availability of commercial satellite data to offer predictive analytics for maritime industries. Its flagship product, MarInt, the world’s first commercial predictive maritime analytics system, has been in operational use for 18 months, providing intelligence and defense customers with bottom line risk assessment on specific ships or broader insightful understanding of their area of interest.
Windward's proprietary algorithms analyze millions of daily ship transmissions, multiple vessel registration databases, and state of the art radar satellites and open-source intelligence, to research past ship behavior and deduce future risk assessment. Customers purchase a subscription to receive the highest quality "pointers" for their specific interests, distilled by MarInt's global view and constantly-evolving algorithmic capabilities.
“The maritime world is entering the information age, and its antiquated, traditional ways are gradually giving way to the big data and SaaS revolution. The newfound abundance of available data at low cost is overwhelming even the most experienced maritime experts and it is becoming more difficult to manage it and derive insight and critical information," said Daniel.
Aleph general partner Eden Shochat, said, “We are very excited to partner with Ami and Matan and bring the information age to the maritime world. In Windward, we see bright, blue ocean markets: Windward has established a significant beachhead in the defense and homeland security markets and we are also already working with players in the areas of natural resources and trading."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 6, 2013
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