Yachting Ventures’ founder and CEO Gabbi Richardson 

The yachting startup ecosystem has historically had a supply problem. Founders arrived with ideas and ambition; convincing investors the sector was worth their attention was the harder task. That dynamic, as Gabbi Richardson, founder and CEO of Yachting Ventures, tells SuperyachtNews, is reversing.

Yachting Ventures has spent the past several years building the infrastructure around that shift, connecting early-stage maritime companies with investors, media exposure and the kind of curated industry access that accelerates growth. Now, what began as a boat show activation has evolved into a full-stack platform, with investor tools, founder-investor formats and a Scaling Syndicate launching in Q2 of this year, designed to support companies moving beyond early-stage into genuine growth.

What we are seeing in real time at the grassroots matters for the entire market. AI is reshaping how startups operate, allowing lean teams to move at the pace of much larger organisations and reach revenue earlier than previous generations of founders could. Capital is following accordingly. Meanwhile, the UAE is increasingly emerging as a serious destination for marine innovation rather than just an export market. And across the board, the most investable companies are those that can demonstrate relevance beyond yachting and leisure marine alone.

We sat down with Richardson to understand where the market stands, what investors are actually looking for and how AI is changing the economics of building a startup in this space, before she introduces Yachting Ventures’ Six Companies to Watch in 2026.

SYN: What was different for Yachting Ventures in 2025? And how have the past 12 months shaped your plans for 2026?

In 2025, we evolved into a broader platform focused on visibility, credibility and growth for yachting startups. We launched a new website, expanded our media support and grew our audience across newsletters and social channels. Our ambition is to become a central hub where founders, investors and industry stakeholders can understand where innovation is actually happening in the sector, while telling the stories of the founders building it.

We also strengthened our investor ecosystem, launching a new investor platform that includes AI-generated investability reports to help startups understand how they are perceived by investors and where they need to improve before fundraising.

Alongside our larger boat show activations, we introduced more curated formats, including Founder X Investor Days and quarterly online pitch events that allow founders to access our investor network without needing to travel.

As we head into 2026, many of the companies we’ve supported are moving from early-stage into scale-up mode, with priorities shifting towards building structured sales engines, expanding internationally, improving operations and preparing for larger funding rounds. In response, we’re launching the Scaling Syndicate in Q2 – a vetted network of industry experts who can support companies through this next phase.

SYN: Are boat shows proving genuinely fruitful outings for startups? Which ones in particular? And what other formats are proving lucrative?

Boat shows can be extremely valuable, but only when treated as a full campaign. The startups that achieve the best results combine exhibition space with brand building, content, speaking opportunities and relationship-building.

We spend a lot of time educating startups on preparation: clear messaging, strong visual assets, proactive outreach and a coordinated communications plan. This can be a challenge for more technical or deeply B2B founders, who often assume the product will speak for itself. In reality, the companies that gain the most traction are those that can quickly articulate the problem they solve and why it matters. In busy environments, attention is limited and strong positioning directly impacts partnership and investor conversations.

In terms of specific shows, Metstrade continues to be one of the most valuable platforms for B2B startups. This year, we launched a second Superyacht Startup Area, alongside our original zone, to create a dedicated space for innovations targeting vessels over 24 metres. The response from both industry and investors was extremely positive.

In 2025, we also launched a Startup Zone at the Dubai International Boat Show, combining exhibition space with introductions to local ecosystem players. One of the startups that joined us and attended a session we organised with the government-backed Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund was later accepted into their accelerator programme and relocated to Dubai.

Beyond traditional boat shows, some of the most productive formats are more curated environments. Our Founder X Investor Days, such as those held around Boot Düsseldorf and in Palma, create space for deeper conversations between founders and active investors.

More niche, focused events (such as the Smart Marina conference, where we’ve supported innovation scouting and run the Innovation Awards for several years) often generate better commercial outcomes than large events, where attention is fragmented and everyone is time-poor. Increasingly, quality of audience matters more than size of event.

SYN: Last year, you mentioned AI as a defining trend for the market. How has that evolved and what do you expect in 2026?

We’re seeing rapid growth in AI adoption across the startups we work with, but the most interesting shift is operational rather than product-led.

Founders are now using AI across sales, marketing, customer support and internal workflows to automate tasks that previously required additional hires. The result is that very small teams can now operate with the output of much larger organisations. That has a direct impact on growth: startups can move faster, test more opportunities and generate traction without immediately increasing headcount.

On the technical side, AI-assisted development tools are helping founders write code faster, generate test cases, debug more efficiently and ship new features in shorter cycles. That acceleration in development means products are reaching the market quicker and iterating faster based on feedback.

From a funding perspective, this is significant. If startups need fewer hires in their early stages, their burn rate stays lower and the amount of capital required to reach meaningful milestones decreases. In practical terms, AI is allowing founders to get further with less – raising smaller rounds, extending runway and reaching revenue earlier.

Looking ahead to 2026, AI will become less of a headline differentiator and more of an embedded layer across both products and company operations. The real advantage will come from how effectively startups use it to scale faster without dramatically increasing costs or headcount.

SYN: With more yachting developments underway in the Middle East, is it still a key market for expansion?

Yes, particularly the UAE. In 2025, we launched our collaboration with the Dubai International Boat Show, bringing a dedicated Startup Zone to the event for the first time. The response was extremely positive and we’re returning this November again to build on that momentum (applications are currently open).

Alongside partnerships with organisations such as the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund and Hub71 in Abu Dhabi, we’ve seen how actively the region is working to attract international startups and provide both funding and soft-landing support.

It’s also worth recognising how much a founder’s environment influences their chances of success. The UAE is attractive because decision-making moves quickly, there’s a genuine appetite for new tech and there is a visible concentration of ambitious, growth-minded people.

That density of entrepreneurs, investors and operators creates a powerful network effect. Founders are surrounded by others building businesses, raising capital and opening doors for each other, which accelerates learning and opportunity. For many founders thinking internationally from day one, choosing the right environment is as strategic as choosing the right market, because the combination of pace, access and community can significantly speed up growth compared with more traditional regions.

SYN: Where are we seeing notable investor appetite going into 2026?

One of the biggest shifts over the past 12 months has been the level of inbound investor interest. A few years ago, we were actively persuading investors to consider opportunities in this space and attend our events; now many are coming to us looking for qualified dealflow, which is a strong signal that the sector is maturing.

Investors are increasingly drawn to startups that have identified markets beyond leisure marine alone. Companies that can apply their technology into adjacent sectors, such as commercial maritime, water mobility or even DefenceTech, are often viewed as more scalable and resilient from an investment perspective. The ability to serve multiple verticals significantly expands the total addressable market.

While we’ve built a strong network of angels and venture funds, there’s still significant untapped opportunity with larger corporates that are actively looking for innovation, strategic partnerships and technologies they can integrate into their existing operations. Many of these organisations are under pressure to accelerate their sustainability roadmaps, digitise their fleets and explore new revenue models, but they don’t always have direct access to early-stage innovation.

One of our priorities for the coming year, therefore, is to engage more closely with corporate venture capital (CVC) teams. By strengthening relationships with CVCs, we can help founders access strategic capital, pilot opportunities and distribution, while giving corporates better visibility over emerging technologies and new business models.

Startups to Watch in 2026

Richardson’s six companies to watch span hardware and software, leisure and defence, hospitality and performance sport. It’s an amalgamation that reflects both the breadth of innovation moving through the marine sector and the increasingly varied backgrounds of the founders driving it.

LOOKOUT

LOOKOUT is an AI marine vision system that gives boats SuperSight, an AI-powered hazard detection that sees what radar and human attention routinely miss. Their customers include captains of vessels from Sabre, Hinckley, HCB, Viking and Nordhavn and, increasingly, defence operators who need persistent maritime domain awareness.

The company has deployed more than 100 systems globally, a rapidly expanding dealer network of technical installers and the 2025 IBEX Innovation Award, the industry’s recognition that AI marine vision has arrived. With the marine helm overdue for an upgrade, they’ve proven that AI perception is essential, so LOOKOUT gives captains a unified 3D view to make better decisions with greater confidence, day or night.

Key priorities for 2026 include driving brand awareness to make LOOKOUT the preferred situational-awareness brand in the marine industry, locking in OEM integration deals that make LOOKOUT factory-installed and expanding its commercial footprint across more fleets and larger vessels. They’re seeking to close their $5 million seed round, with only $1.5 million remaining available to new investors.

ARKHAUS

ARKHAUS is building a new category of overwater hospitality using fully electric, solar-powered villa yachts. The company serves private customers, hospitality developers, destination owners and investors who want to unlock premium waterfront experiences without the environmental impact, entitlement risk or fixed infrastructure associated with traditional land-based resorts. Its platform turns underutilised waterways into scalable, zero-emission hospitality assets.

The company has generated more than $16 million in historical yacht sales and validated its hospitality model through live beta operations, producing over $500,000 in revenue. In 2025, ARKHAUS vertically integrated by acquiring its yacht builder, gaining control over design, production and platform evolution and has since anchored partnerships with Pininfarina and Lyman-Morse while launching Miami operations as the foundation for global resort deployment.

With control over manufacturing, project financing structures in place and a modular resort model that can scale dynamically, ARKHAUS believes it is positioned to deploy faster and more capital-efficiently than traditional resort developers. The company sits at the intersection of hospitality, marine infrastructure and climate-aligned development, a combination it argues is now commercially viable at scale.

For 2026, priorities include deploying its first multi-unit overwater villa resort, expanding into select international markets and scaling production capacity to support repeatable resort builds. The company is focused on securing project-level financing partners, deepening hospitality and development partnerships and completing its next institutional equity round. The goal, as ARKHAUS frames it, is to establish itself as the first global network of overwater villa resorts.

Roxen Innovations

Roxen Innovations is building ultra-light electric watercraft designed to radically lower the barrier to entry for water experiences. Its first product, ROXEN, is an ultra-light electric personal watercraft that is four times lighter than traditional alternatives, making it easier to transport, launch, store and ride.

The company builds for modern water users: resorts, rental operators and private owners who want a cleaner, simpler and better experience without the complexity and weight of traditional PWCs.

Roxen has secured 35 pre-orders with paid deposits and signed five reseller contracts, while negotiating with over 30 additional EU resellers. Achievements to date include a Cannes Yacht Festival nomination, Innovation of the Year at Allt för Sjön and completion of UN38.3 and CE certifications, all accomplished with just €500,000.

The company is positioned at the intersection of electrification, premium leisure and operational simplicity. While many competitors focus on power and complexity, Roxen centres its proposition on less weight, less noise and better experiences and believes the ROXEN will stand out as the electric watercraft that scales globally, both commercially and operationally, in 2026.

Primary priorities for 2026 include scaling production of ROXEN, expanding its market presence in Europe and growing its footprint with high-quality partners, alongside continued refinement of the platform with improvements focused on reliability and user experience. Commercially, the company aims to strengthen long-term partnerships, deliver 200 ROXENs, grow recurring revenue through service and accessories and position itself for its next strategic growth phase.

B-Craft

B-Craft builds bespoke sports tenders with an emphasis on watersports, luxury and comfort. The company’s flagship model, the Akoya (pictured), features a patented towing rig that can be lowered completely beneath the deck with the touch of a button, allowing owners to wakeboard, waterski and wakesurf without sacrificing practicality, style or quality. The Akoya is aimed at lakehouse and superyacht owners who enjoy an active lifestyle but want to arrive in comfort.

The most significant milestone to date is the completion of a working prototype representing around 90 per cent of the final product. It serves both as a brand showcase and a development tool, giving prospective customers a first-hand experience of the Akoya’s features while allowing the team to test new technology and ensure compatibility ahead of production.

B-Craft had a strong showing at boot Düsseldorf last year and has built steady commercial momentum heading into 2026. The company has three priorities for the year: continuing to build relationships with potential clients and industry contacts, beginning production by summer and launching two additional models, each carrying the signature B-Craft aesthetic and the brand’s founding ethos.

IntusHQ

IntusHQ is a software platform designed to manage household and personal inventory for high and ultra-high-net-worth families and their teams. It offers a single place to log, track, move and find care information for items across multiple homes, yachts and collections.

Early milestones include sending its first invoice, appointing Leslie Gillotte as Head of Growth and Operations and securing early funding. The platform was founded by someone with 25 years of experience working in UHNW homes and yachts, a background that informs both the product’s design and its founding premise that this type of software is conspicuously absent from the space.

The company’s goal is to build something that truly supports the people doing the work and its founder believes IntusHQ can become an essential tool for teams and family offices that require visibility, access to information and clarity across complex, multi-asset households.

The priority for 2026 is to validate the concept with its first ten clients, working closely with them to shape the product around their real needs before building out the team for growth and forming partnerships with other services in the private client space.

Waterspeed

Waterspeed is a digital platform for watersports performance, combining wearable data, advanced analytics and community tools into a single ecosystem. Built for watersports enthusiasts, professionals, coaches, brands and organisations, it aims to help users train smarter, connect and grow the sport. It also serves as a place to capture and revisit time on the water.

The platform has secured strong global adoption and built integrations with leading wearable technologies including Apple Watch, Garmin, Vakaros, COROS and Suunto, alongside a web-based analysis platform. Key milestones include a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook and a partnership as the official technology supplier for the NorthStar SailGP Team, providing validation at the highest level of elite sailing.

From its origins as an app, Waterspeed is evolving into a unified watersports ecosystem where athletes, brands, sailing schools and associations can connect, collaborate and create value. The company’s ambition is to become the central platform for the sport, powered by data, community and shared ownership across the industry.

For 2026, the priority is to scale the platform and onboard strategic partners aligned with its long-term vision, with the broader goal of establishing Waterspeed as the essential performance companion for watersports worldwide.

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