Windward, a maritime data and analytics company, today announced a strategic
investment of $10.8 million led by Horizons Ventures, with participation
from Series A investor, Aleph, and other leading investors in the financial
community. This strategic investment will accelerate Windward's ability
to build the largest, most comprehensive maritime data and analytics
platform in history. In addition, it will make those insights accessible
for anyone with stakes at sea, with a solution for the financial sector
scheduled to launch later in 2015. |
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"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.
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. The funding by Horizons Ventures, Aleph and
other financial investors will enable Windward to expand its deep learning
capabilities via its unique data platform - the Windward Mind - and
to operationalize FORESEA, its finance solution. Currently, FORESEA
is in beta testing as the first significant vertical extension of the
Windward Mind and is providing traders, investors and analysts with
access to unprecedented amounts of unstructured data, critical insights
and untapped market opportunities.
"The Windward Mind, the world's first maritime data platform, brings
cross-vertical and industry visibility into ship activity worldwide
that is critical given the economics at stake," said Ami Daniel,
co-Founder and CEO of Windward. "We are honored to have Horizons
Ventures join our journey. Horizons has a unique perspective as a seasoned
investor in some of the world's most disruptive tech companies; their
involvement will provide us with many valuable opportunities for innovating
this analog world."
In addition to funding support, Windward will be adding top advisors
to its boards. A member of Horizons will be joining Windward's Board
of Directors. Additional investors include Tom Glocer, the former CEO
of Thomson Reuters, who will also be joining Windward's Advisory Board
and bringing his invaluable perspective from a world leader in delivering
information to decision makers in professional markets. Ret. Lieutenant
General Gabi Ashkenazi, the former IDF Chief of Staff and former CEO
of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, is also joining Windward's Advisory
Board, with a depth of understanding of the security domain. In addition,
Danielle Ullner has joined Windward as Chief Operating Officer. Ullner
is the former VP of Strategic Partnerships at Perion, and will focus
on deepening partnerships and access across the shipping and ports ecosystem.
"Windward is a game changer because it is bringing a data sciences
perspective to today's maritime data and making it accessible and relevant
for the entire ecosystem," commented Glocer. "Financial institutions,
the next market for Windward's unique data platform, are hungry for
advanced data solutions that can provide valuable trading opportunities
by extracting faint trading signals from noisy datasets such as maritime
information." |
