Crowley Maritime Corp. is wading into the waters of the Pacific with its investment in a California company that maps ocean surfaces.
Saildrone Inc. announced this month that it completed a $100 million Series C funding. The Jacksonville-based company was one of its backers.
Massimo Messina, Crowley’s vice president of mergers and acquisitions, said the local logistics company views new energy and green energy as part of its growth strategy.
“Wherever there is new, emergent energy that reduces carbon footprint, not just for Crowley, but the sector, we want to be part of it,” Messina said.
Saildrone was founded by Richard Jenkins in 2012 and based in Alameda, California. The company maps ocean surfaces through autonomous vessels that measure oceanography, surface variables and more in oceans for six to 12 months at a time.
Earlier this year, Saildrone released the Surveyor, a 72-foot vessel that will map unexplored regions of the Pacific Ocean. Wired reported the data collected from Saildrone’s autonomous research vessels will be made available to government and academic scientists studying oceans.
Crowley officials previously had a relationship with Saildrone leaders. The local logistics company wanted to become investors in the startup because of its work developing technology and having vessels that are currently in operation.
The familiarity with the company combined with Crowley welcoming Messina in September – while Saildrone was still raising funds – provided an ideal environment for the Jacksonville-based company to invest.
"We are delighted to have Crowley join our team as a strategic investor,” Jenkins said in a statement. “Adding high utility ship capability and a global marine service network to Saildrone operations is going to be transformational for our business.”
Messina politely declined to disclose the value of the investment.
Other investors in this series of funding included BOND Capital, XN, Standard Investments, Emerson Collective. In all, Saildrone has raised $190 million in capital.
As for Crowley, its investment in Saildrone is what Messina dubbed a new chapter for growth. Crowley has invested and purchased companies before in its 129-year history, but the company now has someone with decades of experience focused on strategic investments and potential acquisition opportunities.
“What we are trying to accomplish is to expand our horizons to grow (our four) business units in areas that have velocity in growth and are relatively light in assets,” Messina told the Business Journal. “It could be non-asset logistics or light-asset logistics. Technology is very important to us and so is sustainability. Areas that help decarbonize our footprint are dear to our core businesses in maritime, shipping and logistics.”
