The startup is developing the first smart anchoring system with underwater video surveillance, a location module and a safety alarm system.
European nautical startup SeaVision has announced the opening of an $800k seed round, with the funds to be used for go-to market in the US. Their invention – the first smart anchoring system with underwater video surveillance and precise anchor alarm – will help captains be safer at sea and preserve the coral and Posidonia seagrass by gathering “big data” from the ocean.
The team will be present at the Techcrunch Startup Battlefield 200 event in San Francisco from October 18-20, where you can meet the founders and learn all about the product (stand number 3C). SeaVision and their VisionAnchor are participating in the Techcrunch event after being selected amongst thousands of applicants as one of the 200 most innovative and prospective startups in the world. The startup also won first place amongst +300 prototypes in the European GNSS Agency competition last year.
Smarter anchoring with the help of AI
By reimagining traditional anchoring, VisionAnchor’s mission is to put ‘eyes on the anchor’, so that captains and crew can be safer and calmer at sea. The product is a smart anchor buoy with an underwater camera that streams the video of the anchor directly to your phone. It is the most accurate anchor alarm system because the location module is set directly above the anchor at all times and not on the boat (that moves around the anchor because of wind or current changes).
By stitching the underwater photos together, the precise location module and AI in the camera are creating an underwater map of the seabed. As more captains use the system, the startup will be able to see the bigger picture of our oceans and help protect both coral reefs and the Posidonia Oceanica seagrass.
The product also leverages Big Data - collecting data on water temperature, depth, wave and tidal activity, and using an AI algorithm to detect whether the seabed is sand, rock, grass, an underwater wreck, or treasure.
Eyes on the US market
The startup, which has already started making pre-sales in the EU and the United Kingdom, is currently looking to raise an $800k seed round for its next big milestone: entering the US market. The company has raised €175k to-date, from a Swiss angel investor and via EU grants.
European shipbuilders such as Elan Yachts, Silent Yachts and Arcadia Yachts, are already interested in the product and the team want to enter the US where the pleasure boat market is expanding exponentially.
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