Starboard Maritime Intelligence, a New Zealand-based company using artificial intelligence to safeguard the world’s oceans and critical subsea infrastructure, has raised NZ$23 million ($20.6 million) in an oversubscribed Series A funding round that has attracted the interest of Australian venture capital investors.
The raise was co-led by Altered Capital, Starboard’s earliest investor, which was joined by new Sydney-based partners OIF Ventures and King River Capital.
The investment has seen Vu Tran, co-founder of Australian edtech unicorn Go1, join Jonty Kelt on the Starboard board as representatives for OIF Ventures and King River Capital respectively.
Amid escalating maritime security risks, including undersea cable sabotage, illegal marine activity, and contested trade routes, Starboard says it delivers the next generation of “maritime domain awareness” with an AI platform that fuses more than 200 million maritime data points daily.
The data, collected across AIS (automatic identification system), satellite imagery, radar, oceanographic and autonomous sensors, is used to detect suspicious activity, highlight risks to subsea infrastructure and issue real-time alerts that enable operators to act before incidents occur.
“Our mission is clear: to give nations and operators the intelligence edge needed to secure maritime borders, assets and trade in a rapidly evolving threat environment,” says Trent Fulcher, CEO of Starboard Maritime Intelligence.
“This investment enables us to extend that reach globally, set the benchmark for real-time maritime intelligence, and help our partners make faster, better-informed and more secure decisions.”
Starboard says it can strengthen maritime security for governments by detecting adversarial behaviours, protecting subsea infrastructure and supporting classified operations with real-time threat intervention.
For commercial operators, the platform reduces operational risk, safeguards supply chains and improves trade resilience by providing visibility across global shipping activity.
Starboard already safeguards more than 840,000km of subsea cable infrastructure and monitors a significant share of the world’s commercial fleet traffic.
The company says the new funding will accelerate its global expansion into North America, Europe and the Indo-Pacific, while strengthening its capabilities for classified and commercial maritime environments and driving product innovation.
New director Kelt, who is venture partner at King River Capital and an early Palantir executive with deep experience in scaling global data and technology businesses, has been named chair of Starboard Maritime Intelligence to replace Maria King.
The company says Kelt’s fellow new director Tran, who last year stepped back from day-to-day operations of the Queensland-based online learning platform Go1, is a “highly successful serial entrepreneur” who in addition to co-founding Go1 also established defence technology startup Black Sky Industries.
“Starboard is addressing one of the world’s most urgent security challenges, of protecting oceans, trade, and critical infrastructure in real time,” says Kelt.
“Already trusted by government agencies and commercial operators across the Pacific, the company has the momentum and technology edge to become the global standard for ocean intelligence.
“I’m excited to help guide its next phase of growth into new markets and sectors.”
The latest capital raising was also supported by Co:Act Capital, Icehouse Ventures, and Whakatupu Aotearoa Foundation.
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