What Innovatum does

Innovatum Ltd (registered in England and Wales, company number 06438943, headquartered at Woodside Business Park, Ingham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk) is a specialist provider of submarine cable and pipeline tracking, survey, and magnetising services. With over 30 years of domain experience, the company serves offshore wind farm developers and installers as its primary segment, alongside telecommunications submarine cable operators and offshore oil and gas markets. It positions itself as the only company in the world to offer a cable magnetising service combined with subsequent passive magnetic cable tracking.

The company designs, manufactures, and operates its core technology in-house. The product suite is built around magnetic-field technology and includes SMARTRAK (a submarine cable tracking and depth-of-burial survey system supporting passive magnetic, active AC 'Tone', and active DC modes in a single unit deployable on ROVs, AUVs, towed bodies, and surface vessels), SMARTSEARCH (a magnetic gradiometer mapping system for debris searches, UXO location, and route clearance), a proprietary Cable Magnetising service that imparts specific magnetic fields to cables to increase vertical tracking range by 500% for the life of the cable, and a supporting Tone Generator. These are complemented by a fleet of six Saab Seaeye electric ROVs (3x Falcon, 2x Cougar Compact, 1x Panther XTP).

Innovatum monetizes through multiple streams: outright equipment sales (SMARTRAK, SMARTSEARCH, magnetisers, tone generators) and rentals, short- and long-term ROV rental, professional cable magnetising services performed during manufacturing, onshore loading or offshore cable-lay, and turnkey subsea survey services with offshore engineer support. Go-to-market is direct and sales-led, engaging enterprise offshore energy customers on a project-by-project basis with no publicly disclosed pricing. The business is privately held; Robert Nunn became sole owner following a 2019 management buyout, and in 2025 the company acquired a majority stake in Suffolk Survey & Subsea Services (S4), now operating as an Innovatum Group company.

Name

Innovatum

Legal name

Innovatum Ltd

Website

https://innovatum.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Innovatum is a UK-based submarine cable and pipeline survey specialist providing proprietary magnetic cable tracking (SMARTRAK, SMARTSEARCH), a unique cable magnetising service, and Saab Seaeye ROV rentals, serving offshore wind, telecom, and oil and gas clients globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Subsea Survey Equipment and Services

NAICS

Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)

SIC

Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Fleet, Asset Tracking & Telematics Location Platforms (BPAMANAF), Nautical Safety, Navigation Aids & Hydrographic Services (TLAHAFAE), Marine & Underwater Robotics (USVs/UUVs) (HDAAAIAH)

Keywords

• Subsea cable tracking
• Cable magnetising service
• Depth of burial survey
• ROV rental services
• Magnetic survey systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Bury Saint Edmunds

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Equipment Sales: Sale of proprietary survey equipment including SMARTRAK, SMARTSEARCH, Magnetisers, and Tone Generators. Products are manufactured in-house at Bury St Edmunds premises and can be supplied as rental systems or for outright purchase.
2. ROV Rental: Rental of ROV fleet (6 Saab Seaeye ROVs) with optional survey equipment packages. Systems can be customised to meet individual customer or project requirements. Long-term and short-term hire options available.
3. Cable Magnetising Service: Unique cable magnetising service performed during cable manufacturing, onshore loading, or offshore during cable lay operations. Creates unique magnetic signatures on cables for subsequent tracking and depth of burial surveys.
4. Survey Services: Subsea survey services using SMARTRAK and SMARTSEARCH systems for cable tracking, depth of burial surveys, magnetic debris searches, UXO location, and general visual inspections. Includes offshore engineer support.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Innovatum designs, manufactures, and operates proprietary submarine cable and pipeline tracking and survey equipment using magnetic field technology. Its core offerings are the SMARTRAK tracking system, the SMARTSEARCH magnetic mapping system, a unique cable magnetising service that imprints permanent magnetic signatures on subsea cables, and a fleet of Saab Seaeye ROVs available for rental and survey operations. Products are manufactured in-house at Bury St Edmunds and supplied as outright sales or rental systems alongside turnkey survey and cable magnetising services for offshore wind, oil and gas, and telecommunications customers.

Product overview

Innovatum offers a suite of submarine cable and pipeline survey products and services built around magnetic field technology. The core product line consists of SMARTRAK (cable tracking and depth of burial survey system), SMARTSEARCH (magnetic mapping survey system), CABLE MAGNETISING (unique service to magnetize cables for enhanced detection), and TONE GENERATOR (supporting tracking tool). These products are supported by a fleet of 6 Saab ROVs available for rental, all designed and manufactured in-house at their Bury St Edmunds facility. The products work together: cables are magnetised pre-installation to create unique magnetic signatures, then SMARTRAK tracks them in passive magnetic mode post-lay. Rental systems can be customized to meet individual project requirements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SMARTRAK Submarine cable tracking and depth of burial survey system offering passive magnetic, active AC Tone, and active DC tracking modes in a single compact unit, designed to be fitted to ROVs, AUVs, towed bodies, and surface vessels for cable and pipeline tracking across offshore wind, oil and gas, and telecommunications projects.
• Cable Magnetising Service Submarine cable magnetising service that places specific magnetic fields onto submarine cables and pipelines to make them more visible to the SMARTRAK survey system, increasing vertical tracking range by 500% with effects lasting the lifetime of the cable and allowing tracking of dead or live cables. The service is performed during cable manufacturing, onshore loading, or offshore during cable lay operations.
• SMARTSEARCH Underwater magnetic mapping survey system using an array of magnetic gradiometer sensors (2 to 12 sensors with variable spacing) mounted to frames for ROV or towed sled deployment, used for magnetic debris searches, cable and pipeline route clearance surveys, UXO location, and archaeological surveys.
• ROV Rental Service Rental service providing a fleet of 6 Saab Seaeye electric ROVs comprising 3 Falcon (small observation class), 2 Cougar Compact (large observation class), and 1 Panther XTP (electric work class), with optional survey equipment packages customisable to project requirements and available on long-term or short-term hire.
• Subsea Survey Services Turnkey marine survey services using SMARTRAK and SMARTSEARCH systems for cable tracking, depth of burial surveys, magnetic debris searches, UXO location, and general visual inspections, delivered by Innovatum engineers with offshore operational support.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500% increase in vertical tracking range when cables are pre-magnetised
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Suffolk Survey & Subsea Services (S4)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 February 2025Innovatum acquired a majority stake in Suffolk Survey & Subsea Services (S4), a Bury St Edmunds based company in offshore energy and marine survey & subsea inspection services. The strategic acquisition enables combined turnkey marine survey services (multibeam, geophysical, pUXO), positioning and inspection ROV services. S4 operates as an Innovatum Group Company from the headquarters in Ingham, offering nearshore zone services from intertidal to 25-30m water depths. S4 continues to provide modular training, feed & desk study, cable route engineering and data processing services.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• UTEC (Acteon Group): Acteon subsea services brand UTEC provides cable route, depth of burial, and subsea positioning/survey services to the offshore wind and oil & gas industries, directly competing with Innovatum's SMARTRAK-based cable tracking and survey offering.
• Bibby HydroMap: Specialist hydrographic and unexploded ordnance survey company serving offshore wind farm developers and submarine cable owners in Europe, directly comparable to Innovatum's SMARTSEARCH-based cable route clearance and survey work.
• MMT Sweden (Ocean Infinity): Marine survey specialist with deep offshore wind and submarine cable survey capability, now part of Ocean Infinity; competes with Innovatum for cable route survey, depth of burial, and subsea inspection contracts.
• DeepOcean: Subsea services provider offering IMR, survey, and trenching for offshore wind and oil & gas; competes with Innovatum for cable survey, installation support, and inspection ROV work, particularly in the European offshore wind market.

Broad incumbents

• Fugro: Global geo-data and offshore site characterisation major with substantial cable route survey and subsea inspection work for offshore wind developers; much larger and broader than Innovatum but a direct competitor on integrated survey packages.

Others

• Sonardyne: Subsea acoustic positioning and sensing specialist supplying alternative tracking and monitoring technologies to ROV and cable installation markets; not a direct cable-magnetising competitor but an adjacent technology player whose positioning systems could substitute for some SMARTRAK use cases.
• Subsea 7: Major offshore installation contractor for submarine power and telecoms cables; both a customer of Innovatum's magnetising service and a potential competitor when bundling its own cable lay and survey capabilities.
• Prysmian Group: World's largest submarine power and telecoms cable manufacturer and a major buyer of Innovatum's cable magnetising service during cable production; adjacent rather than directly competing, but capable of influencing where magnetising is performed.
• NKT: European submarine power cable manufacturer that procures magnetising and survey support services from suppliers like Innovatum; an important customer in the offshore wind value chain but not a direct survey competitor.

Emerging players

• Kraken Robotics: Subsea sensors, synthetic aperture sonar, and robotic inspection systems provider serving offshore wind and defence survey markets; an emerging player whose subsea sensor offerings increasingly intersect with SMARTRAK/SMARTSEARCH applications.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/innovatum-ltd

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Innovatum