Digital tools improve boating: Tech-driven new companies are launched at Start-Up areas (2)
Forward technology from bright fresh entrepreneurs often results in new companies that bring a new perspective on things in the markets they penetrate. Such is the case with companies at the Leisure Boating Start-Up area and the Superyacht Start-Up area at Metstrade.
In this article, three of the participants at the Start-up areas tell about their products and businesses. In the previous, four of their co-exhibitors are introduced. Yachting Ventures’ Gabbi Richardson reflects on the overall growth of innovation in the marine industry, resulting in lots of start-ups.
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Tonjo
This Chinese company, founded in 2025, aims to give skippers a clearer view of their vessel and more intuitive access to its controls, making boating safer, simpler and smarter. They developed an Intelligent Helm and Assisted Navigation system that integrates all systems on board. Navigation electronics, engine data, lighting, climate control and entertainment often come from different suppliers, each with its own display, app or switch panel. Owners have to learn several systems, while boatbuilders have to make those systems work together. Sherry Zhang points out that this integration is to make boating safer, simpler and smarter. “One central view of key vessel information helps skippers to monitor the status of engine, electronics and more on board without having to piece together information from separate displays. The A.I. in our control system offers assisted navigation to support situational awareness and decision-making. Having only one interface at the helm station reduces the number of separate screens, apps and switch panels that a boater needs to learn and operate. This makes everyday tasks more straightforward and vessel operation more approachable for less experienced users. Connecting equipment, vessel data and controls in one single monitoring smart control system, presents a wealth of data about the boat and provides information about the maintenance, history and status of the systems on board.”
Tonjo has clear objectives for the participation at Metstrade Start-Up area. Zhang: “We have two priorities: finding European distribution and service partners, and securing a first factory-fit project with a production boatbuilder. We are particularly interested in builders looking for an integrated helm solution. A successful Metstrade for us would mean agreeing on a first factory-fit project and establishing distribution and service coverage in a European market.”
Sway
Dutch company Sway offers a tool to log all the trips boaters make. The Sway box connects with all the NMEA instruments and equipment on board and logs the journey. It automatically makes a journey log that has all the data integrated: the course, distance, speed but also the weather, wind force and direction, and – if connected to the NMEA – fuel consumption, engine hours, AIS. The company was founded by two keen sailors from Amsterdam: Erwin Marges and Eric van der Velde. Marges tells the story: “After 2,5 years of development, Sway went commercial in 2025 by placing the product in stores at a selected group of retailers in leisure boating in the Netherlands. We jhave an active group of ambassadors, mostly long distance sailors on sailing yachts. In fct, Sway is suited for any boat that has NMEA instruments, also motor yachts. During Metstrade, we will introduce the latest software update, V3, of our tool. We hope to expand our network throughout Europe at the show. As we have started with some of the best known yachting stores in the Netherlands, we hope to convince shops in other countries to carry our products, too. Last year at Metstrade, we visited the Start-Up Pavilion. So this year, we presented ourselves to Gabbi of Yachting Ventures because we knew participating here could be good launching of Sway at an international level.”
Sea-it
At the Superyacht Start-Up area, two experienced superyacht crew present their tool to improve logistics on board. Blake Smidt and his partner Roxy, a technician and a chief stewardess, have made Sea-it. This tool provides quick and easy overview of inventories on board of a larger yacht. The couple learnt that a big deal of time goes into organising the inventory on board of yachts, taking the stews from their actual job: providng the best experience for owners and guests. Sea-it keeps track of inventory: like uniforms, alcohol, tobacco and more. Smidt does the oral tour: “Sea-it gives the interior team one live view of everything on board, from the cellar to crew uniform. Crew log things as they go, like a bottle opened at lunch, a broken glass or a polo issued to a new deckhand. It takes a few seconds on a phone or iPad so the inventory stays true instead of going out of date the day after you've just spent hours on a spreadsheet. Everyone on the team sees the same numbers, and chiefs and captains get ready-made reports. It also makes handovers much easier. We aim to make the setup of each boat as easy as possible by moving its existing spreadsheets/inventories across, so crew open the app and everything is already there, ready to go. Within the first two weeks of launching, three boats had started using it with their inventories already in the app. Around a dozen more have signed up or shown interest within our first month. The app is free during our launch period, and pricing is planned to go live around mid to late November, with a free trial still being offered.”
Expectations of participating at Metstrade are high: “Mostly I’d love to meet the crew and interior teams who will actually use the app, hear what they’d change or like to see in the app and get a few more boats on board for the winter shipyard season.”
Gabbi’s boost
Building personal relations is key in the marine industry, Yachting Ventrues’ Gabbi Richardson points out:
“In our experience, the marine industry is particularly relationship-driven. Newcomers from other industries bring valuable expertise, but they need opportunities to demonstrate that their products work in a marine environment and understand how customers actually operate. A successful pilot with a respected shipyard or operator can make a significant difference in building that trust.” Will the start-ups experience big growth after participating? Richardson: “It’s difficult to give an ‘average’ timeline from startup to growth because the businesses are so different. Software companies can often develop and test more quickly, while hardware businesses typically need longer for prototyping, testing and production. Securing those first customers, followed by repeat orders or wider adoption, is a more meaningful indicator of progress than the age of the company. That’s an important part of what these areas at Metstrade offer: the chance for founders to meet potential customers and partners face-to-face, get direct feedback and build relationships that help their businesses grow.”
