ARLINGTON, VA, Sept. 29, 2026 — Quartermaster, an Arlington, Virginia-based startup that uses weather-hardened sensors to collect maritime data, has raised $140 million in new financing, four months after closing a $43 million Series A in May. The company’s SmartMast system uses cameras and radios mounted on ship masts to record and transmit real-time information about maritime activity for shipping companies, governments and insurers.

About $100 million of the new financing came through a Series B led by software-focused venture firm Insight Partners, with participation from new investor Overmatch Ventures and existing investors including First Round Capital. The remaining $40 million came through debt financing from investment bank Stifel. Neil Sobin, founder and CEO, said Insight Partners preempted the Series B. He also said investor interest increased following the war in Iran and the resulting shipping disruptions.

Insight Partners Leads Series B Financing

Insight Partners led about $100 million of the Series B, with participation from Overmatch Ventures and existing investors including First Round Capital. Nick Sinai, managing director at Insight Partners, said Quartermaster’s network can provide real-time maritime information for commercial fleets. “Quartermaster is building a distributed network for the ocean, where reliable, real-time data has been difficult to come by,” Nick Sinai, managing director at Insight Partners, said in a statement to TechCrunch. “The team’s execution and the strong demand for maritime data and awareness made this an investment we wanted to lead, and we’re proud to back Neil and the team as they scale to meet the opportunity with commercial fleets.”

Sobin said the war in Iran and resulting shipping disruptions contributed to increased investor interest in Quartermaster. “I think we’ve gained huge amounts of conviction in the core thesis,” Sobin said. “A big part of the story for us this year was, events in the world drive that clarity and drive that conviction and urgency, and when you see that, you gotta seize the opportunity.”

SmartMast Records Maritime Activity

SmartMast combines cameras and radios in a weather-hardened unit mounted on a vessel’s mast. The system records maritime activity and transmits the data for analysis. Quartermaster uses the data for collision avoidance, monitoring congestion in shipping lanes, and locating mariners who need rescue. Each SmartMast system records tens of gigabytes of data per day.

Quartermaster uses data collected by SmartMast to build artificial intelligence applications for maritime customers. Sobin said the company has found limited previous work applying AI to maritime data and has used its own data to build software for customers. “There isn’t a lot of prior art in maritime AI, and so it’s been exciting to, one, have our own source of data,” he said. “But two, there’s just so much low-hanging fruit that we’ve been knocking down this summer in what you can start to build and then deliver value for our customers on.”

SmartMast is Installed on More Than 650 Vessels

More than 650 vessels in 25 countries now have SmartMast systems installed, while Quartermaster has shipped more than 800 systems to customers. Quartermaster is preparing to deploy SmartMast systems across entire commercial fleets, accounting for the difference between the number of systems shipped and the number installed.

Quartermaster has doubled its manufacturing capacity to produce more SmartMast systems for fleet deployments and new customer orders. The company has also modified the system’s design to speed up manufacturing, enabling it to produce additional systems as fleet deployments expand.

Photo credit: Quartermaster

Quartermaster Builds Software for Maritime Needs

Sobin has spoken with vessel owners, vessel operators, and other industry professionals to identify the information and software capabilities they want in new technology. These discussions help Quartermaster identify software applications that use data collected by SmartMast. “This is an ignored field. Mariners around the world have been ignored by technology for a really long time, and so when they meet us, they’re so excited, because they’re like: ‘Oh, I have so many ideas, let’s work on them,’” he said.

Quartermaster plans to use the new financing to expand SmartMast installations, increase manufacturing capacity and build additional software applications based on maritime data collected from vessels. The company now has SmartMast systems installed on more than 650 vessels across 25 countries, providing data from commercial maritime operations in multiple regions. “We know we can do this, and we are seeing a lot of proof that tells us we’re really onto something massive and important in the world,” Sobin said. “So, what do you do when you have that position? You run faster and you move faster, and you double down on that strategy.”