What nke Instrumentation does

nke Instrumentation is a French company headquartered in Hennebont, Brittany, that designs, manufactures and sells instruments for the measurement and monitoring of oceans and fresh waters. Founded in 1985 as part of nke Group, the company operates in three core product areas: underwater monitoring instruments (WiMo multiparameter sondes measuring up to 20 water parameters with plug-and-play digital smart sensors, WiSens autonomous WiFi data loggers, and specialized sensors for conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, chlorophyll, nitrate and hydrocarbons), buoys and instrumented systems (100L and 600L coastal buoys, SC40 drifting buoys, profiling buoys and freshwater monitoring stations), and ARGO-qualified profiling floats (ARVOR and PROVOR series including BGC-ARGO biogeochemical models up to 4000m depth with Iridium satellite telemetry). The proprietary technology stack includes automatic cleaning wiper mechanisms for biofouling control, embedded web interfaces eliminating the need for dedicated software, and the InoView data visualization platform for real-time monitoring with alarm management.

The business model is primarily hardware sales of specialized, quote-based oceanographic and freshwater monitoring equipment distributed through direct enterprise field sales, an international distributor network, and active participation in major industry trade fairs. Customer segments span environmental monitoring agencies, oceanographic research institutions (including the international Argo program), aquaculture and fishing operations, and offshore/maritime industries. The company holds ISO 9001:2015 certification and French Fab membership, and generates revenue through unit sales plus associated data transmission services (Iridium, Argos, GPRS/3G/4G, UHF). In 2023, nke acquired Aquaread to expand into freshwater portable instruments, and in October 2025, nke Group integrated into Satlink to form the largest European group dedicated to ocean science, data and innovation, serving nearly 10,000 organizations across 130 countries while nke Instrumentation maintains its own brand identity and operational continuity under CEO Alain Boschet.

Name

nke Instrumentation

Legal name

NKE INSTRUMENTATION SAS

Website

https://nke-instrumentation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

nke Instrumentation is a French manufacturer of oceanographic and freshwater monitoring instruments, including multiparameter sondes, autonomous data loggers, buoys, and ARGO-qualified profiling floats, serving environmental agencies, research institutions, and offshore industries worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Oceanographic Instrumentation

NAICS

Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513), Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Totalizing Fluid Meter and Counting Device Manufacturing (334514), Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing (334519)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Totalizing Fluid Meters & Counting Devices (3824)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Quality Monitoring (Surface Water, Stormwater, Drinking Water) (EUAHACAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental Monitoring, Data & Reporting (Air/Water/Soil) (BPAIAMAC), Process Analytical Instrumentation (Gas analyzers, spectroscopy, pH/ORP, conductivity) (IMAGAFAE), Environmental Data Management Platforms (EHS/EMS, LIMS, ELN, Compliance Data Hubs) (EUAHAKAA)

Keywords

• Oceanographic instrumentation
• Underwater monitoring sensors
• Water quality monitoring
• Profiling floats
• Marine data buoys

Headquarters

HQ city

Hennebont

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Underwater Monitoring Instruments: Sale of multiparameter sondes, data loggers, and sensors for measuring water quality parameters in oceans, coastal areas, lakes, and rivers. Includes WiMo probes, WiSens loggers, and various environmental sensors.
2. Buoys and Instrumented Systems: Sale of instrumented buoys including coastal 100L and 600L buoys, drifting buoys (SC40 series), profiling buoys, and custom instrumented platforms for environmental monitoring.
3. Profiling Floats: Sale of autonomous profiling floats (PROVOR and ARVOR series) for oceanographic research, including standard CTD floats, deep-sea floats (4000m), and BGC-ARGO biogeochemical floats. Part of international ARGO program.
4. Data Transmission Services: Satellite and cellular data transmission services through Iridium, Argos, GPRS/3G/4G, and UHF communication modules integrated with instruments for real-time data delivery.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

nke Instrumentation designs, manufactures, and sells instruments for measuring and monitoring oceans and fresh waters. Its product portfolio includes multiparameter sondes (WiMo), autonomous data loggers (WiSens), instrumented buoys, profiling floats (ARVOR, PROVOR), freshwater monitoring stations, and complementary sensors, supported by the InoView data visualization platform.

Product overview

nke Instrumentation is a French company designing, manufacturing, and selling oceanographic and freshwater monitoring instruments. The product portfolio comprises three main categories: (1) Underwater monitoring instruments including WiMo and WiMo Plus multiparameter sondes (measuring up to 20 water parameters with plug-and-play sensors), WiSens autonomous WiFi data loggers (for temperature, pressure, turbidity, wave, dissolved oxygen), and specialized sensors (CTD, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll a, nitrate, ammonium, chloride, oil, pCO2, NOSS, corrosion, CDOM, Phyco-E); (2) Buoys and instrumented systems including 100L and 600L coastal buoys, SC40 drifting buoys, profiling buoys, and freshwater monitoring stations; (3) Profiling floats for the international ARGO program including ARVOR I, DEEP ARVOR, PROVOR CTS3/CTS4/CTS5, and BGC-ARGO floats. The company also offers the InoView data visualization platform, acquired the Aquaread freshwater instrument brand, and distributes Ostara air quality monitoring stations. Products integrate sensors from partners like Sea-Bird Electronics, Satlantics, WetLabs, Aanderaa, and RBR Ltd.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Aquaread: Water quality measurement instruments for groundwater, surface water and wastewater analysis, including portable applications and water level sensors.
• WiMo
• WiSens
• Ostara
• ARVOR
• PROVOR
• InoView

Products and services

• WiMo Multiparameter Sonde Plug-and-play multiparameter sonde for in-situ measurement of physical and biogeochemical parameters in marine and freshwater environments. Used by environmental agencies, research institutions, and water quality monitoring programs.
• WiMo Plus Enhanced version of the WiMo multiparameter sonde with extended sensor capability and communication options for environmental monitoring deployments.
• WiSens Data Loggers Autonomous compact data loggers designed for long-term underwater and freshwater monitoring of temperature, pressure, and related parameters with wireless data retrieval.
• 100L Buoy Compact instrumented surface buoy for coastal monitoring and metocean data collection, integrating sensors for physical and environmental parameters.
• 600L Buoy Larger instrumented buoy designed for offshore monitoring applications with greater payload capacity for sensors, power, and telemetry.
• SC40 SVP BRST Surface Velocity Profiler (SVP) profiling float equipped with barometric and reference sensors, designed for operational oceanography.
• SC40 SVP-BSC Surface Velocity Profiler profiling float designed for sea state monitoring, with enhanced surface metrology capability.
• ARVOR I ARGO-qualified profiling float for autonomous measurement of temperature and salinity in the upper ocean, widely deployed in the international ARGO array.
• DEEP ARVOR Deep-ocean variant of the ARVOR profiling float, qualified for ARGO operations to deeper pressure ranges for full-depth ocean monitoring.
• PROVOR CTS5 Latest-generation PROVOR profiling float with multi-parameter biogeochemical sensor payload for the ARGO-BGC array.
• PROVOR CTS4 Multi-parameter PROVOR profiling float used for biogeochemical ocean monitoring in the ARGO-BGC program.
• Profiling Buoy Profiling buoy platform integrating profiling instrumentation for upper-ocean and surface metrology data collection.
• Freshwater Monitoring Station Integrated station for continuous monitoring of freshwater bodies (lakes, rivers, reservoirs), combining sensors, telemetry, and power systems for autonomous operation.
• Ostara Station Coastal/estuarine monitoring station integrating multiparameter sensors for water quality and environmental surveillance.
• InoView Data Visualization Platform Cloud-based data visualization and management platform for viewing, processing, and sharing data collected by nke instruments (profiling floats, buoys, sondes, loggers).
• Aquaread Probes Multiparameter water quality probes (Aquaread-branded) distributed by nke for spot-check and continuous surface water monitoring.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 20 water parameters measurable with single WiMo probe
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• SatlinkflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025nke Group (including nke Instrumentation) became part of Satlink in October 2025, creating the largest European group dedicated to ocean science, data, and innovation. Satlink is the world leader in ocean technology solutions headquartered in Madrid. The partnership combines complementary strengths in satellite communications and water-quality monitoring technology to serve nearly 10,000 organizations across 130 countries.
• Laboratoire Eau, Environnement et Systèmes Urbains (Leesu)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeesu (École des Ponts ParisTech & Université Paris-Est Créteil – UPEC) partnered in the Forbath project for continuous real-time monitoring of bathing water quality in urban and coastal environments.
• Laboratoire Images, Signaux et Systèmes Intelligents (UPEC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the European Forbath project dedicated to monitoring of bathing water quality.
• Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Porto research institute partner in the European Forbath project for bathing water quality monitoring.
• Hydro & Meteo GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean project partner in the Forbath initiative for bathing water quality monitoring in urban and coastal environments.
• AtlantOS (EU Horizon 2020)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation project (grant agreement no 633211) supporting development of the SC40 SVP-BSC drifting buoy for sea surface temperature, conductivity, and salinity measurements.
• Copernicus TRUSTED ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment of SC40 drifters within requirements of the Copernicus TRUSTED project for calibration and validation of satellite HRSST retrievals from Sentinel-3 SLSTR.
• AquareadcoreTechnology or IntegrationFollowing the acquisition of Aquaread company, nke's product offering expanded in the freshwater market with portable applications and water level sensors. Aquaread operates as a subsidiary of nke Instrumentation.
• IfremercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench research organization for ocean science. Previously provided test tank facilities for nke profiling floats before the company built its own testing infrastructure. nke is a strategic supplier to Ifremer for the Argo program.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Hach (Xylem Analytics): Global leader in water-quality analysis instruments and sensors for municipal, industrial, and environmental monitoring. Overlaps with nke on multi-parameter water-quality sondes and sensors, particularly via the Aquaread freshwater portfolio nke acquired.
• YSI (Xylem): Established water-quality sonde and sensor brand for environmental, aquaculture, and industrial water monitoring. Overlaps with nke's multiparameter probes and Aquaread freshwater product lines, but at significantly larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• OTT HydroMet: Large player in hydrometric and water-quality monitoring instrumentation for environmental agencies and research institutions. Comparable to nke in water-quality sondes and data loggers but broader across hydrology, meteorology, and remote sensing.
• Sea-Bird Scientific: Global leader in oceanographic CTD and water-quality instrumentation, including profiling-float CTDs used in the ARGO program. Directly comparable as a deep-sea oceanographic instrument supplier and an explicit sensor/component partner to nke (CTDs used in DEEP ARVOR).

Direct peers

• Turner Designs: Manufacturer of in-situ fluorometers and optical sensors for chlorophyll, CDOM, and other biogeochemical parameters in oceanographic and freshwater monitoring. Comparable to nke on the optical-sensor side of multi-parameter water-quality and BGC-ARGO applications.
• RBR Ltd: Manufacturer of high-precision oceanographic CTDs and sensors, including the RBRargo3 used in ARGO profiling floats. RBR is both a direct competitor in CTD/instrument design and a partner to nke (its CTDs are integrated into the ARVOR I float).
• Aqua TROLL / In-Situ Inc. Manufacturer of multi-parameter water-quality sondes and data loggers for groundwater, surface water, and aquaculture. Comparable to nke on multiparameter sondes and the freshwater/Aquaread side of nke's business.
• Aanderaa Data Instruments: Norwegian supplier of oceanographic sensors, instruments, and smart sensor suites used in ARGO floats and coastal monitoring. Directly comparable as a multi-parameter water-quality and oceanographic instrument provider and a referenced sensor partner to nke.
• Satlantic (Sea-Bird Scientific / Teledyne): Manufacturer of optical sensors for biogeochemical measurements, including those used on BGC-ARGO floats. Comparable to nke in supplying BGC oceanographic sensors and a referenced partner to nke on the PROVOR CTS4 BGC float.
• Valeport Ltd: UK-based manufacturer of oceanographic and hydrometric instruments (CTDs, tide gauges, current meters). Comparable to nke in serving environmental monitoring, oceanographic research, and water-quality markets with high-precision sensors and instrumentation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nke_Instruments
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC4ppX0JLrySbBXD95TDF6UA/videos?view_as=subscriber
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nke-instrumentation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

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 nke Instrumentation