The sea has a mind of its own...

Soon, your vessel will too.

Fusing satellite intelligence, onboard systems and cloud computing, Vortex gives you a clearer picture of your yacht and the world around it.

All seeing. All knowing.

Above and below.

Tides shift, weather turns, and the seabed changes, yet the industry still relies on hydrographic surveys dating back as far as the 1800s.

We’re building a marine intelligence platform that actually keeps up, bringing real-time, satellite-grade awareness to the water.

The days of guessing what lies ahead are coming to an end.

of marine incidents involve vessels operating closest to land - where legacy charts are the slowest to update.
80%

Seeing the unseen.

Marine navigation remains inexplicably locked in legacy charting models. While the aviation and automotive industries have fully embraced real-time data and continuous updates, you and your vessel have been left behind.

Static Charts in a Fluid Sea
Large parts of our oceans were last surveyed between 1870 and 1985, leaving countless reefs and seabed features completely unmapped by modern methods. Major commercial charts still rely on these outdated government hydrographic surveys, resulting in missing hazards and unreliable contours.
Fragmented information
right now charts, weather conditions & forecasts, and other sensory infomation such as temperature, barometric pressure, wave height & forecasts, and bathymetry data are presented in a range of incohesive mediums.
The Illusion of Sudden Failure
Nine out of ten "sudden" equipment failures are actually compounding patterns that go unnoticed. Engine failures and hidden electrical faults account for the vast majority of offshore assistance calls and vessel fires, but legacy systems simply wait for the skipper to notice the problem.

Built for tomorrow

Hardware and software, designed for the sea.

Unmatched Visual Reality
We layer high-resolution satellite photography directly over navigation routes to expose hidden hazards long before they appear on standard screens. This delivers a ground-truth intelligence layer that traditional chart vendors simply cannot match.
A Unified Intelligence Ecosystem
Instead of bolting separate products together, we are vertically integrating hardware, cloud data, and AI into a single seamless stack. This ensures all systems are engineered to work together from day one.
Built to Evolve.
By leveraging open standards and agentic AI, our platform is built for rapid innovation. We are breaking free from the slow, decade-old hardware cycles of legacy brands to continuously out-ship and out-learn the competition.

The crew.

Built by sailors, for sailors - because there's no substitute for experience.

Our crew is made up of passionate mariners building the tools we personally rely on.

  • Tony Sparks

    Founder and CEO

    A live-aboard skipper with over 50 years of sailing experience, from dinghies to his current 50-foot sailboat, which serves as a real-world R&D platform across the South Pacific. Tony combines lifelong maritime expertise with more than 35 years of building, scaling, and successfully exiting technology companies worldwide. He brings deep, hands-on knowledge of marine electronics and satellite data systems, bridging practical seamanship with advanced technical innovation.

    Vessel: SV Wainani

    Blue Water Miles: 8,000

  • Peter Batcheler

    Chairman

    A keen yachtsman and Chartered Fellow of the NZ Institute of Directors with over 25 years of governance leadership across high-growth technology and engineering sectors. He brings a strong operational background, having led the build of superyacht spars and America’s Cup–winning yachts as New Zealand CEO of Southern Spars, and co-founded Global IT telematics pioneer EROAD, scaling the company from inception to a successful dual listing on the NZX and ASX.

    Vessel: SV Esprit, Royal NZ Navy (as Watchkeeper, Navigator & Commanding Officer)

    Blue Water Miles: 50,000

  • Myles Henaghan

    Chief Technology Officer

    A qualified Yachtmaster with over 20 years’ experience scaling high-performance engineering teams across NZ, AU, the US, Europe, and Asia. Raised on Ireland’s coast and seasoned by an offshore New Zealand-to-Ireland passage, he brings a sailor’s understanding of why mission-critical systems cannot fail at sea. Co-founder of Wires Uncrossed and creator of the Hierarchy of Engineering Needs (HoEN), he previously served as GM of Engineering at Xero and CTO of Accordo. He now leads the integration of high-reliability software with purpose-built maritime hardware at Vortex.

    Vessel: SV Ashling

    Blue Water Miles: 15,000

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