IQNautics BV

What IQNautics BV does

IQNautics BV is a privately-held Dutch SaaS company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Heerlen, Netherlands. The company operates a dual-product platform targeting the yacht charter industry: the Yacht Charter Platform, a business process management (BPM) system for charter operators covering vessel management, digital check-in/out, crew lists, digital documents and e-signatures, process monitoring, and task allocation; and the Skipper App, a free mobile application (iOS and Android) that provides community-powered AIS-based marine traffic, flotilla tracking, and personal performance statistics for recreational boaters.

The underlying technology combines BPM workflows with machine learning and AIS data processing. Notable technical components include a gradient boosting ML model trained on AIS data for vessel ETA prediction, a smartphone-as-transponder community data feed, and an optional AI Module add-on providing AI chat knowledge management and AI daily task optimization. Recent product launches in 2024-2025 have added QR-code-based equipment onboarding and ML-based ETA predictions.

IQNautics monetizes through tiered SaaS subscriptions: Starter (free, single vessel), Premium at €24.99 per vessel per month (with annual billing discount), and Enterprise (custom pricing, multi-year contracts with custom integrations). An AI Module is offered as a €9.99/vessel/month add-on. The Skipper App is free and serves as a community-building and top-of-funnel channel for the enterprise SaaS. Go-to-market combines product-led growth via self-serve sign-up and freemium mobile apps with direct enterprise sales for larger charter companies. The company has raised approximately $117,725 in a single seed round from GapMinder VC (July 2021) and operates with a 1-10 employee team.

Name

IQNautics BV

Legal name

IQNautics B.V.

Website

https://iqnautics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

IQNautics BV is a Dutch SaaS company offering a yacht charter management platform with digital check-in/out, crew and document workflows, and AI-based ETA prediction, paired with a free community-powered marine traffic mobile app for skippers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Software / Yacht Charter Management

NAICS

Navigational Services to Shipping (488330), Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400)

akta.pro primary industry

Marine Navigation Systems (ECDIS, Radar, GNSS, AIS) (IMAJAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Marine Sensors, Instrumentation & IoT (Condition Monitoring) (IMAJAJAI)

Keywords

• Maritime software platform
• Yacht charter management
• Marine traffic application
• Boat fleet management
• Maritime digitalization

Headquarters

HQ city

Heerlen

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Yacht Charter Platform SaaS: Subscription-based SaaS platform with tiered pricing (Starter free, Premium €24.99/vessel/month, Enterprise custom). Revenue generated from per-vessel licensing with annual billing discount. AI module available as €9.99/vessel/month add-on.
2. Skipper App: Free mobile application for skippers providing AIS traffic, flotilla tracking, and personal bests tracking. Generates user community and brand awareness for the platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

IQNautics BV operates a digital charter management SaaS platform for yacht charter companies that digitises vessel management, digital check-in/out, customer onboarding, contracts and crew lists, task allocation, and process monitoring as an integrated Business Process Management system. It supplements the platform with a free community-powered marine traffic mobile app (Skipper App) for skippers and an optional AI module add-on that delivers AI chat knowledge management and AI-driven daily task optimisation.

Product overview

IQNautics BV offers a dual-product portfolio consisting of the Yacht Charter Platform (a cloud-based charter management SaaS) and the Skipper App (a free community-powered marine traffic mobile application). The Yacht Charter Platform serves charter companies with a Business Process Management system offering modules for digital check-in/out, customer interfaces, document management, vessel tracking, and task allocation. An optional A.I. Module add-on provides AI-powered task optimization and chat knowledge management. The Skipper App provides recreational boaters with free AIS traffic data, flotilla tracking, and personal performance metrics. The platform uses a tiered pricing model (Starter free, Premium €24.99/vessel/month, Enterprise custom) plus an A.I. Module add-on at €9.99/vessel/month.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Yacht Charter Platform: Digital charter platform as a service for yacht charter companies, featuring vessel management, process monitoring, digital check-in/out, crew list management, and digital documents.
• The Skipper App
• AI Module

Products and services

• Yacht Charter Platform Digital charter management SaaS platform for yacht charter companies, providing vessel profiles with live status, process monitoring and task allocation, digital customer interfaces for onboarding and check-in/out, digital crew lists, contract templates with e-signature, and multi-base administrative controls via tiered pricing.
• IQNautics Skipper App Free marine traffic mobile application for skippers and recreational boaters, delivering smartphone-based real-time traffic (using devices as community AIS transponders), flotilla mode for sharing live positions with fellow skippers, and personal performance tracking such as nautical miles, top speed and longest leg.
• A.I. Module Artificial intelligence add-on module for the Yacht Charter Platform offering AI-powered chat knowledge management, customisable AI customer-service chat, and AI-driven daily task optimisation across vessel preparation processes, sold separately at €9.99 per vessel per month.
• Machine Learning ETA Prediction Standalone ML capability on the Yacht Charter Platform that uses gradient boosting models trained on AIS data (vessel position, speed, environmental conditions, vessel type) to forecast vessel ETA with MAE and RMSE accuracy metrics, enabling predictive turnaround, maintenance and crew-scheduling decisions for charter operators.
• QR Code Equipment Onboarding Functionality Functionality on the Yacht Charter Platform that lets operators attach QR codes to yacht equipment, opening micro-pages with digital instructions, photos and tutorial videos for customers and crew to support self-onboarding and reduce handover defects.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% reduction in check-in times when combining QR codes with e-check-in solution
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• FunSailingminorOthersPartner company in the sailing ecosystem shown as part of 'Our Friends' section. Nature of relationship appears to be cross-promotional within the maritime industry community.
• SailogyminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBooking platform for boats worldwide providing end-to-end service. Works with quality charter service providers. Cross-promotional partner for IQNautics ecosystem.
• SetSailminorOthersPartner company in the sailing ecosystem shown as part of 'Our Friends' section. Nature of relationship appears to be cross-promotional within the maritime industry community.
• MasterYachtingminorOthersPartner company in the sailing ecosystem shown as part of 'Our Friends' section. Nature of relationship appears to be cross-promotional within the maritime industry community.
• Enjoy SailingminorOthersDutch yacht charter company with bases in Lemmer and Zeeland, known for well-maintained fleet. Referenced in content as example charter provider.
• PikaSeaminorOthersPartner offering sailing trip packages including flotilla experiences. Part of 'Our Friends' ecosystem with cross-promotional relationship.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Vesselfinder: AIS vessel tracking service with mobile apps delivering real-time marine traffic comparable to the Skipper App. Targets the same recreational and small-commercial boater audience as IQNautics.
• Dockwa: Marina and boat management SaaS serving marine SMBs with fleet and operational workflow tools. Comparable to IQNautics' Yacht Charter Platform on the SMB operations-management side.
• Navily: Community-based marine navigation app where users share anchorages, ports, and routing information. Closely comparable to the Skipper App's crowd-powered approach to boating data.
• Savvy Navvy: Smart marine navigation app providing optimized routing for boaters, with mobile-first delivery. Overlaps with the Skipper App's target audience of recreational sailors and skippers.
• PredictWind: Weather routing and forecasting service purpose-built for sailors. Comparable in target audience and navigation/routing functionality with the Skipper App's boating use cases.
• MarineTraffic: Global AIS-based vessel tracking platform with web and mobile apps offering real-time marine traffic. Most directly comparable to IQNautics' community-powered AIS traffic features on the Skipper App, with overlapping consumer and commercial user base.

Others

• Sailogy: Online booking platform for boat charters worldwide. Listed as an IQNautics partner; adjacent rather than directly competing since Sailogy focuses on booking distribution while IQNautics focuses on charter operations.
• Windy: Widely used weather and routing visualization platform popular among sailors. Adjacent ecosystem player providing complementary, not directly competing, functionality to the Skipper App.
• MasterYachting: Yacht charter company referenced as an IQNautics partner / 'Friend' on the IQNautics website. A customer-side ecosystem player rather than a direct software competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Navionics (Garmin): Established marine charts and navigation provider owned by Garmin, serving both recreational and commercial mariners. Much larger resource base but operates as a broad incumbent rather than a charter-vertical specialist.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/iqnautics
• Facebookfacebook.com/iqnautics
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iqnautics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IQNautics BV