Quartermaster

Quartermaster is a Maritime startup based in Arlington, VA, USA that has raised $43M in venture capital across 1 funding round. The company reached Series A stage in May 2026 with a $43M round led by First Round Capital. Quartermaster's investor base includes 2 institutional funds, with First Round Capital leading the most recent equity round.

Quartermaster is an Arlington, Virginia-based maritime intelligence company founded by Neil Sobin that develops SmartMast, a weather-hardened sensor suite combining 360° electro-optical/infrared cameras, software-defined radios, and edge AI into a ruggedized platform mounted on commercial workboats—tugs, fishing vessels, and offshore supply ships. SmartMast-equipped vessels form a distributed ocean sensing network that augments or replaces the existing AIS (Automatic Identification System) standard with real-time multi-INT data. The company has deployed SmartMast on over 600 ships covering 10 million square miles of ocean, with vessels having assisted in more than 20 maritime rescues. In May 2026, Quartermaster raised a $43 million Series A co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital, with First Round partner Bill Trenchard (who led Uber's seed round) noting that the company is reshaping how maritime operators understand and act on the world's oceans.