Unlocking ocean data for science, society, and industry

Sofar unlocks ocean data for science, society, and industry. In maritime shipping, its high-accuracy weather forecasts and vessel performance models provide optimized guidance that saves ships time, fuel, and emissions. In marine sensing, its extensible Spotter platform delivers real-time surface and subsurface data to power climate research and solutions.

Founders

  • Tim Janssen
  • Evan Shapiro

Founders

  • Tim Janssen
  • Evan Shapiro
Dive Deeper

The ocean covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface, yet we know very little about it.

To help close this data gap, Sofar developed an extensible marine sensing platform called Spotter and deployed hundreds globally to create the largest privately owned network of ocean sensors.

Each day, this network makes more than 1.5 million real-time observations of waves and other ocean variables.

Sofar’s team of ocean scientists builds innovative models to assimilate the observations made by the Spotter network into Sofar’s marine weather forecasts. These forecasts are up to 70% more accurate than traditional models.

Sofar’s Wayfinder voyage optimization platform uses these highly accurate weather forecasts and vessel performance models to provide ships with optimized guidance that saves time, fuel, and emissions. Sofar chose to focus on maritime shipping, which produces 3% of global emissions, to maximize its impact.

Sofar also equips researchers, operators, and innovators with its devices and data. Customers deploy its extensible Spotter platform and access data from Sofar’s global sensor network to power marine research and sustainable commercial solutions.

Sofar’s team of engineers, ocean scientists, and business professionals is based in San Francisco, California.