By Business & Finance 
James Ives is founder and CEO of XOCEAN. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in County Louth, XOCEAN is a leading provider of carbon-neutral ocean data that has invested substantially in systems and processes for global scaling. In early January, it was announced that the company has secured $115M to expand its fleet of uncrewed surface vessels.
XOCEAN
XOCEAN is a provider of carbon-neutral ocean data. The company maps the seabed and monitors environmental readings, offering an economic and carbon neutral solution to ocean data delivery using Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs).
Ocean data has traditionally been acquired using larger, crewed vessels, which emit substantial amounts of carbon from the consumption of thousands of litres of fuel per day. By contract, a USV is the size of an average car and consumes a lower volume of fuel.
The company operates in four key market segments globally: Offshore wind and power interconnectors, carbon capture, utilisation & storage; operations and maintenance within the renewables, oil and gas sectors, and civil hydrography.
The company won Innovation of the Year at the Business & Finance Awards and has been nominated for the Elevation Award.
Investment
XOCEAN has secured $115M to expand its fleet of uncrewed surface vessels. This latest funding round was friven by Climate Investment and SGS, an American VC focused on clean energy. Other investors include Morgan Stanley’s 1GT fund and an affiliate of the Crown Family’s CC Industries.
James Ives
James Ives founded XOCEAN in 2017 and operates at the company’s CEO. In a Q&A with Business & Finance in November 2024, he said: “Our first sale was only 5 years ago and we have now operated in 23 jurisdictions across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.
“We continue to experience rapid growth, driven largely by the major expansion of the international offshore wind market and the need for clean, renewable energy globally.
“We have harvested over 4 million gigabytes of high-quality data and have already supported the development of over 45 GWs of new offshore wind capacity.
“We have expanded our global footprint – most recently establishing a state-of-the-art technical centre in Australia and secured €30 million in investment. Over the past year we have grown our USV fleet to 30 and doubled our headcount to 300 with plans to double this again within two years.”
Business Person of the Month
The Business Person of the Month Award, in association with KPMG, recognises outstanding leaders in Irish business. It especially acknowledges those who have made significant contributions to the business community of Ireland.
Recipients of the award are automatically put forward as candidates for the prestigious Business Person of the Year Award at the annual Business & Finance Awards.
Business & Finance, Business Person of the Month
Business & Finance, in association with KPMG, recognises excellence in business through the ‘Business Person of the Month’ award. This award seeks to recognise noteworthy achievements in business leadership, and, particularly, those that make a telling contribution to the wider business community in Ireland.
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