Sustainovate

What Sustainovate does

Sustainovate is a marine and blue economy consultancy and product company operating at the science–industry–government interface. Founded in Oslo in 2009 by Mark (Sytse) Ybema, the firm specializes in the architecture of complex multi-partner research programmes — typically Horizon Europe consortia, bilateral cooperation studies, and ministry-commissioned strategic mandates ranging from €500k to several million euros with five or more partners across at least two countries. The company serves research consortia (Wageningen Marine Research, Institute of Marine Research, NORCE, ILVO, IMROP), government ministries (Dutch and Norwegian), and marine industry bodies (European Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association, MareLife network). Operations span two entities: Sustainovate AS (Oslo, strategic and R&D arm) and OceanBox B.V. (Bussum, Netherlands, technology and product arm spun off in 2021).

The firm's core technology product is EchoSuite, an Azure-native cloud platform that ingests, processes, and analyses echosounder data at scale — the company reports reprocessing approximately 40 TB of acoustic data in hours rather than months. EchoSuite underpins the PelAcoustics AI R&D programme (with WMR and IMR) delivering ML-based species classification and a Coexistence Index for bycatch prediction, with an adaptive threshold algorithm that reduced false positives by 11% on validation data. Additional products include the SPC Member Country Portal (R-Shiny/Power BI platform for the Pacific Community's FAME division, extended into Phase 2 in 2025), NL TradeMate (a mobile trade-intelligence application adopted by Dutch Embassies in Romania and Moldova), and an AI Agent Services line built on the Corvue platform using Anthropic Claude and OpenAI GPT.

The business model combines professional services (R&D leadership engagements, fundable programme architecture for Horizon Europe proposals, strategic advisory mandates) with managed-services revenue (EchoSuite data processing for PFA, AI agent deployments). Go-to-market is sales-led, beginning with a 30-minute intro call booked via Outlook Calendar and relying on a curated network of independent specialists — PhD-level acoustic researchers, senior cloud engineers, ML modellers, and government advisors — assembled per engagement rather than employed full-time. The company is founder-owned with no disclosed external investors.

Name

Sustainovate

Legal name

Sustainovate AS

Website

https://sustainovate.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sustainovate is an agency that offers marine solutions like fishing gears, species identification, consulting and business development.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Consulting & Data Systems

NAICS

Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416), Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Navigational Services to Shipping (488330)

SIC

Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Oceans, Coastal & Marine Resource Management (BPADALAI), Coastal & Marine Resources Administration (Oceans, Fisheries, Shorelines) (BPAIAMAI)

Keywords

• Marine consulting
• Blue economy advisory
• Fisheries research
• Marine data systems
• Horizon europe proposals

Headquarters

HQ city

Oslo

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. R&D Leadership & Data Systems: Project-based engagements designing data architecture, processing pipelines, and analytical frameworks for marine observation data. Typical programmes range from €500k to several million euros.
2. Fundable Programme Architecture: Proposal development and consortium architecture services for Horizon Europe and multi-partner R&D programmes. Co-authorship and evaluation services.
3. Strategic Advisory: Bilateral cooperation studies, market scans, policy evaluations, ministry-commissioned strategic memos, and capacity-building programmes.
4. AI Agents for Organisations: Builds purpose-built AI agents for organizations that act, monitor, and report. Small-scale pilots leading to broader engagements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sustainovate provides marine and blue economy advisory services spanning marine data systems and workflows, fundable programme architecture (Horizon Europe proposal development), and strategic advisory on bilateral cooperation and policy. Core technology offerings include the EchoSuite cloud-based acoustic data-processing platform built on Azure, the PelAcoustics AI project for ML-based species classification and bycatch prediction, and purpose-built AI agents for organizations operating on the Corvue platform.

Product overview

Sustainovate is a marine and blue economy consultancy operating across two entities: Sustainovate AS (Norway, founded 2009) handles strategic and R&D advisory for marine programmes, while OceanBox B.V. (Netherlands, founded 2021) develops technology products. The core technology product is EchoSuite — a cloud-based acoustic data-processing platform built on Azure for the European Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association (PFA). EchoSuite is complemented by PelAcoustics AI, an ML-powered R&D project delivering species classification and bycatch prediction. A portfolio of AI agents (Nina assistant, proposal-check.agent) built on the Corvue platform handles knowledge work, process automation, and proposal structuring. Additional digital products include the SPC Member Country Portal (R-Shiny/Power BI data platform) and NL TradeMate (embassy trade intelligence mobile app). Services span Marine Data Systems & Workflows (R&D leadership), Fundable Programme Architecture (Horizon Europe proposal development), Project Management (multi-partner governance), and Strategic Advisory (science-industry-government interface work).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EchoSuite: Cloud-based acoustic data-processing platform built on Azure with modular pipelines for ingest, processing, and analysis of echosounder data.
• PelAcoustics AI
• NL TradeMate

Products and services

• EchoSuite Cloud-based acoustic data-processing platform built on Azure with modular pipelines for ingest, processing, and analysis of echosounder data. Capable of reprocessing ~40 TB of acoustic data in hours rather than months. Removes the data-engineering bottleneck so researchers focus on science rather than infrastructure. Primary customer is the European Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association (PFA).
• PelAcoustics AI Multi-partner industry R&D project delivering ML-based species classification, a Coexistence Index for bycatch prediction, and an open-source method that reprocesses a decade of acoustic data (~40 TB) in hours. Provides decision support to skippers, fleet managers, and fisheries analysts through commercial echosounder data analysis. Partners include Wageningen Marine Research (WMR) and Institute of Marine Research (IMR).
• SPC Member Country Portal Interactive R-Shiny and Power BI data portal for the Pacific Community's FAME division, providing Pacific island member countries direct access to fisheries catch data for management decisions. Includes full technical documentation.
• NL TradeMate Mobile application adopted by Dutch Embassies for real-time bilateral trade intelligence. Includes economic news, business events, trade opportunities, and a business directory. Published on iOS and Android. Used by embassy staff and Dutch companies active in Romania and Moldova.
• AI Agent Services Purpose-built AI agents that carry real workload inside organisations, not chatbots but systems that act, monitor, and report. Built on Corvue platform using Anthropic Claude and OpenAI GPT. Services include office and communication automation, data and monitoring, and strategy and knowledge management. Operates across three tiers: process automation, data and analysis, and human-AI agent orchestration.
• Marine Data Systems & Workflows (R&D Leadership Service) Project-based engagements designing data architecture, processing pipelines, and analytical frameworks for marine observation data. Typical programmes range from €500k to several million euros. For acoustic, sensor, vessel and ecosystem data that needs to become research-ready or decision-ready.
• Fundable Programme Architecture (Proposal Development Service) Proposal development and consortium architecture services for Horizon Europe and multi-partner R&D programmes. Builds the logical framework first to keep the full consortium aligned, every task justified, and the argument visible to evaluators. Includes co-authorship and evaluation services.
• Strategic Advisory Bilateral cooperation studies, market scans, policy evaluations, ministry-commissioned strategic memos, and capacity-building programmes. Maps the stakeholder landscape, builds an alignment strategy, and establishes the state of the art to deliver credible, evidence-based positions across sectors and borders.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40 TB of echosounder data reprocessed in hours rather than months
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Wageningen Marine Research (WMR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative R&D partner in PelAcoustics AI project with IMR. WMR and IMR collect and analyse commercial echosounder data from the European pelagic fleet to improve fish stock understanding. Structured and co-authored the multi-partner project defining roles, data governance, and logical framework.
• Institute of Marine Research (IMR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorwegian marine research institute collaborating with WMR in PelAcoustics AI project. Joint work on responsible fisheries technologies and data infrastructure.
• SINTEF OceanminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorwegian marine research institute. Testimonial from Senior Research Scientist Jorunn Skjermo regarding collaboration on Horizon proposal for seaweed farming technology development.
• NORCEminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative R&D on responsible fisheries technologies mentioned in track record section.
• Innovation NorwayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTestimonial from Senior Advisor Marit Valseth. Mentions Mark's creative, knowledgeable approach and belief in open innovation.
• MareLifeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBiomarine CEO network support. Part of secretariat for MarLife science-based innovation network connecting CEOs across fisheries, aquaculture, and marine biotech.
• CorvuecoreTechnology or IntegrationPlatform used for AI agent infrastructure. Sustainovate operates its own AI agent infrastructure through the Corvue platform.
• Anthropic (Claude)coreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary LLM provider for AI systems. Used for drafting proposals, structuring documents, strategic research, and AI agent workflows.
• OpenAI (GPT)coreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary LLM provider for AI systems alongside Anthropic. Used across proposal development, data processing, and strategic analysis.
• Microsoft AzurecoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud platform underlying EchoSuite acoustic data processing. Azure-native architecture for scalable data storage, processing, and access.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Wageningen Marine Research: Dutch marine research institute and existing partner of Sustainovate in the PelAcoustics AI project. Comparable because both work on commercial echosounder data analysis, acoustic survey methods, and data infrastructure for fisheries stock assessment — overlapping technical and domain capabilities.
• SINTEF Ocean: Norwegian applied marine research institute and Sustainovate partner. Directly comparable as both operate at the science–industry–government interface in fisheries, aquaculture, and marine biotech, with similar Horizon Europe proposal co-authorship and data systems capabilities.
• Institute of Marine Research (Havforskningsinstituttet): Norwegian marine research institute and Sustainovate partner in PelAcoustics AI. Both produce acoustic survey data pipelines, species classification models, and decision-support outputs for fisheries management, with overlapping capabilities in responsible fisheries technologies.
• NORCE Norwegian Research Centre: Norwegian research centre with marine and climate divisions and a Sustainovate partner. Comparable because both deliver applied R&D at the science–industry–government interface, including responsible fisheries and ecosystem monitoring, often as consortium partners on multi-year programmes.
• NIVA (Norwegian Institute for Water Research): Norwegian research institute conducting aquatic and marine environmental research. Comparable to Sustainovate because it combines monitoring data, advisory services, and consortium-based funding pursuit in marine/freshwater ecosystems with a similar Nordic policy and EU-funding orientation.
• Akvaplan-niva: Norwegian marine research consultancy combining applied science, data acquisition, and advisory for fisheries, aquaculture, and offshore industries. Directly comparable because it competes for similar Horizon Europe and bilateral programmes in the same Nordic blue economy niche.
• ILVO (Instituut voor Landbouw- en Visserijonderzoek): Belgian agricultural and fisheries research institute and Sustainovate customer (WASSP multibeam processing). Comparable because both work on precision fishing, echosounder data processing, and species classification, often in Horizon Europe and bilateral cooperation contexts.

Emerging players

• OceanMind: UK-based company applying AI and satellite data to fisheries monitoring, enforcement, and compliance. Comparable to Sustainovate's PelAcoustics AI and EchoSuite work because both use ML on marine observation data to support fisheries management, though OceanMind is more enforcement-focused and Sustainovate more research-focused.

Broad incumbents

• Ramboll: Global engineering, architecture, and sustainability consultancy with Nordic roots and a marine/coastal practice. Comparable as a broad incumbent competing for the same Horizon Europe, ministry, and blue economy advisory mandates Sustainovate targets, though Ramboll offers much wider geographic and disciplinary coverage.
• ERM (Environmental Resources Management): Global sustainability and environmental consultancy with a marine/coastal practice. Comparable because both deliver environmental impact assessments, regulatory advisory, and blue economy strategy for governments and industry, though ERM operates at much larger scale across many more geographies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/msybema

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Sustainovate