Founded in 2020, the maritimetech company ZeroNorth exemplifies a company that has gone from strength to strength — fast.
It has grown from being a team of six to 600 employees across 10 global locations. It serves over 250 customers, including ship owners, operators, and cargo owners, and its platform currently tracks around 5,500 ships. Its acquired three companies.
In December 2024, the company recorded its first month of positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) on the back of significant growth, reaching just under $40 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) for the year.
Today, the company announced it has received $20 million in debt financing from CIBC Innovation Banking, bringing its funding to over €89 million.
I sat down with Anders Schulze, COO, to learn more.
ZeroNorth helps the maritime sector optimise commercial performance and reduce carbon emissions.
According to Schulze, the maritime industry is navigating unprecedented complexity, largely driven by the challenges of the energy transition and evolving regulations.
"To meet these demands effectively, the industry needs unified technology solutions that simplify operations and enhance decision-making."
The company offers six core services which harness data and AI to create insights that enable voyage, vessel, and bunker optimisation and commercial decision-making.
As an industry, shipping is undergoing digital transformation — while some smart vessels are embedded with the latest tech that maintains full-time connectivity, others remain offline for most of their journey, only connecting when they reach port.
According to Schulze, this "presents challenges for real-time optimisation, but our platform still allows users to sync and update data when they do connect."
One of ZeroNorth's key technologies is IoT and digital twins.
Schulze shared:
"Our products are designed to analyse vast amounts of data, make intelligent, automated recommendations, and enable seamless information flow from ship to shore and throughout the entire value chain."
Take data generated from sensors and digital twins. The company has acquired three startups, including Alpha Ori Technologies, which specialises in IoT products, providing high-frequency data from onboard sensors. These devices transmit real-time data to the cloud, enabling predictive maintenance.
"It allows us to predict vessel behaviours — even for ships not yet on our platform — by leveraging data from sister ships and similar vessels. The more ships we have, the more accurate our data-driven recommendations become," shared Schulze.
Schulze expanded:
"For example, we can assess when a vessel needs cleaning or detect early signs of potential failures in key components like pumps and sensors. This enhances operational efficiency, improves safety, and reduces fuel costs."
Further, ZeroNorth's platform turns insights into actions, empowering vessel owners, commercial operators, charterers, cargo owners and bunker suppliers to achieve operational, sustainable, and digital excellence while steering the maritime industry towards zero emissions.
What are the biggest sustainability challenges in shipping?
According to Schulze, fuel consumption is a significant factor, "but it's not just about how much fuel is used.
"It's about how efficiently fuel is managed. Even on a fixed route from point A to point B, vessels can optimise fuel use by running engines and auxiliary systems more efficiently.
However, the biggest savings come from route optimisation. By dynamically adjusting routes based on weather, currents, and swell conditions, we've seen fuel savings of up to 15 per cent per voyage. This is significant, and when combined with engine efficiency improvements, the cost and emissions savings add up."
It's not easy to gain traction in, much less disrupt a traditional sector
In terms of ZeroNorth's fast traction, I asked Schulze the keys to success.
He shared:
"It comes down to tackling large, complex challenges and building strong client relationships.
Our industry isn't a simple subscription-based model — it's a high-stakes B2B SaaS environment with long-standing traditions and legacy systems.
Success requires understanding all stakeholders, from operators to technical managers and finance teams.
Once a company adopts and integrates our platform into their operations, it becomes an essential tool rather than just another software purchase."
Schulze asserts that companies aren't just adopting its solutions for compliance:
"They're seeing real financial benefits. When we can show customers both CO2 reductions and cost savings, it becomes a no-brainer for them to invest in our technology."
In terms of the next steps, ZeroNorth is also working on making its platform more interactive.
Schulze shared:
"Imagine an operator waking up and simply asking the system, 'How are my vessels performing today?'"
The platform, powered by generative AI, could then provide a summary of optimisations made overnight, suggest route changes, and even ask if the user wants to override any decisions.
"The goal is to create a seamless, intuitive user experience that requires less manual input while delivering smarter insights."
Schulze sees a lot of opportunities for organic growth by expanding into new shipping segments.
"We started with oil and gas but have recently gained traction in container shipping. Each segment has unique technical and operational needs, so we're tailoring our solutions accordingly.
Beyond that, we're enhancing our platform's capabilities in response to evolving regulations, ensuring our customers remain compliant while gaining actionable insights. We're also continuing our strategy of acquiring complementary companies.
If there's a technology out there that fits our platform and accelerates our mission, we'd rather integrate it than build from scratch."
Lead image: Anders Schulze, COO of ZeroNorth. Photo: uncredited.
Would you like to write the first comment?
Login to post comments