A specialist offshore wind vessel monitoring and performance platform has raised €11m ($11.6m) from venture capital providers and other investors to develop its digital systems for wider shipping markets.
Paris-based Spinergie, which was set up in 2016 and launched its Smart Fleet Management system last year, already works with wind farm vessel managers and charterers such as Orsted, GE, Boskalis and Nexans.
It aims to use the funds to deepen its growth in offshore wind and expand into other shipping sectors.
The series A investment will support its research and development programme, and help recruit new team members, especially data scientists and developers.
The company aims to triple its team size to around 100 by the end of 2023 and open offices in Asia, South America and the Middle East.
Spinergie’s co-founders came from the offshore wind shipping industry, and chief executive Jean Cristofari said many clients want to be able to use its services across their wider shipping interests.
He cited European transshipment and shortsea supply chain services as areas in which there is an immediate crossover, but said its systems are simple to use and transferable to deepsea sectors.
The investment round was led by Iris Capital, which specialises in digital start-ups, and Swen Capital, which has assets worth $6.9bn under management, including its Blue Ocean fund, alongside other investors and business angels.
Spinergie said its technology relies on large volumes of vessel data processed with proprietary algorithms. Cristofari said it has had to build up those data feeds, as many vessels in the offshore wind sector did not historically monitor the information.
“This announcement comes at a critical time for the industry as maritime carbon emissions continue to rise and new regulations will revolutionise the way industry leaders plan their operations. We have ambitious goals,” Cristofari said.
Co-founder Louis Jozon, Spinergie, chief procurement officer, said: “We are connecting previously siloed data, facilitating interoperability between systems and providing recommendations.”
Spinergie’s first solution, Maritime Market Intelligence, allowed managers and charterers to search and select vessels anywhere in the world according to specifications, availability and past performance.
Smart Fleet Management provides real-time visibility, performance analysis and recommendations such as fuel consumption and emissions by activity mode and operational metrics, the company said.
Other investors included technology backers Polytechnique Ventures; Sanne Manders, chief operating officer of Flexport; Jean-Gabriel Levon, cofounder of Ynsect; and Antoine de Chassy, founder of Loft Orbital.
