Windward, a maritime data and analytics company, today announced a strategic investment of US$10.8 million led by Hong Kong venture capital Horizons Ventures, with participation from Series A investor Aleph, and other leading investors in the financial community.
Apart from the funding, a Horizons member will be joining Windward together with several additional investors include, Tom Glocer, the former CEO of Thomson Reuters, Ret. Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, the former IDF Chief of Staff and former CEO of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and Danielle Ullner, the former VP of Strategic Partnerships at Perion.
Started in 2010, Windward translates maritime data into full visibility across the ocean. Windward’s intelligence solution, MARINT, is already in wide use by Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement agencies worldwide, who use Windward’s data and insights to preemptively identify threats before they reach their shores.
This strategic investment will accelerate Windward’s ability to build the a comprehensive data and analytics platform. In addition, it will make those insights accessible for anyone with stakes at sea and to operationalize its finance solution FORESEA.
FORESEA provides traders, investors and analysts with access to large amounts of unstructured data, critical insights and untapped market opportunities. The product is currently in beta testing and it is scheduled to be launched later in 2015.
“Ship activity across the oceans fuels the global economy but is one of the last analog arenas. The Windward team is revolutionizing this archaic system and bringing visibility to this critically important domain, advancing the global ecosystem,” said Jason Wong of Horizons Ventures.
Horizons Ventures, the venture capital fund backed by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing, is playing an increasingly active role in Israeli startup scene as one of the largest source of foreign cash for startups in Tel Aviv. The fund has invested in 60 plus startups, of which 27 are Israeli ones receiving a combined US$420 million investment. Its well-known Israeli portfolio companies include navigation app maker Waze, keyboard app Ginger, Kaiima, a seed-technology firm, etc.
image credit: Windward