Digital Twin Marine, a startup that creates digital models of ships, has relocated its headquarters to St. Petersburg.
Digital Twin Marine was founded in 2020 by husband and wife co-founders Nicole Bruger and Tom Bruger. Tom, a ship inspector for a surveying company at the time, saw his wife making digital twins of construction sites in her home office and was inspired to apply the technology to the maritime industry. He started the company, and Nicole joined more than a year later as CEO.
Digital twins are virtual renderings of an object, person or process made from real-world data and environmental sources. The twins simulate the object or process behavior to understand it, according to a report from McKinsey and Co. Digital Twin Marine applies modeling technology, like 360-degree cameras, to ships and yachts to create a twin for contracted customers.
The company will be a part of St. Petersburg's Maritime and Defense Technology Hub and announced the move in early October.
"We're excited to be in St. Pete," CEO Nicole Bruger said. "We hope there are some shipping companies and shipyards in Tampa; we hope to have a great partnership with them in the future so we can develop technology that benefits both of us."
The duo moved to St. Petersburg because it was close to the Tampa International Airport and had the community needed to grow their business. The two also saw how the space appealed to younger people and families, Nicole said.
"We're trying to disrupt the maritime industry, so the people that we're looking for in our business are people who probably share the same values and want to live in a place that's young and fun," Nicole said.
The company was previously located in Juno Beach for 18 months while attending 35 Mules, a business incubator backed by energy company Florida Power. It helped the company grow and introduced them to the utility space, Nicole said.
The Brugers also employ a Florida-based technician and are hoping to hire more employees in the future. Digital Twin Marine is not currently profitable, but the company is close to a profitable status, Nicole said.
The company is focused on pursuing contracts in the utility space and with ship fleets.
"We're on that precipice of being very busy," Nicole said.
