Quartermaster has raised $43m in a Series A funding round to accelerate the development of what it describes as the world’s largest maritime awareness and sensing network.
The round was co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital, with participation from TMV Logistics, Steel Atlas, BoxGroup, Operator Partners and Shorewind Capital, reflecting strong investor interest in maritime data and AI-driven ocean intelligence systems.
At the centre of the company’s strategy is its SmartMast platform, a distributed onboard sensing system installed directly on commercial vessels. Each unit combines weather-resistant sensors with edge computing technology designed to capture and process real-time maritime data.
The system collects a wide range of information, including vessel movements, environmental conditions, video feeds, radio signals and geolocation data, building a continuous stream of live intelligence from active shipping routes.
Quartermaster argues that the maritime industry still operates with significant blind spots, relying on fragmented and often delayed data, despite the fact that around 80% of global trade moves by sea.
“The ocean has not had its AI moment because it has not had its data moment,” the company said as it announced the funding round, underlining its ambition to reposition how maritime intelligence is generated and used.
The company also highlights the limitations of traditional Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), which it says can be incomplete or manipulated, making them insufficient for modern maritime awareness needs.
According to Quartermaster, more than 600 vessels across 25 countries are already connected to its network, which has so far covered over 10 million square miles of ocean, including 2.8 million square miles in April alone.
Beyond data collection, the company says SmartMast equipped vessels have already supported more than 20 search and rescue operations at sea, reinforcing its positioning as a “pro-mariner sensing network” rather than a purely commercial surveillance tool.
The new funding will be used to scale deployment across additional vessel types and geographic regions, while also expanding engineering, analytics and product teams to support growth.
First Round Capital partner Bill Trenchard said Quartermaster is “reshaping how maritime operators understand and act on the world’s oceans,” pointing to a shift toward real-time, AI-driven maritime situational awareness.
