Windward

Two navy veterans

Windward was founded by Ami Daniel and Matan Peled, who served together in the Israeli Navy. According to Calcalist, it was founded in 2011, while a report on its 2021 IPO gave 2010 as the founding year. The company is registered in Israel, and at the end of 2024 it had 170 employees, 127 of them in Israel. Daniel is still CEO in 2026.

How it works: the behavior of vessels

Ships broadcast their position, speed and identity over the AIS system. According to the company, Windward combines this data with remote sensing signals, its own artificial intelligence models and generative AI, and builds from them a picture of each vessel's behavior over time. The goal is to detect unusual or suspicious behavior and to predict risks. According to Calcalist, the system is used mainly by insurance companies to assess risk in marine insurance, and also by shipping companies, energy companies such as BP and Shell, and government bodies that use it to identify suspicious vessels. In 2025 the company launched a tool to protect maritime infrastructure such as cables and pipelines. Another company in the maritime field, Orca AI, works on the ship's bridge itself: its automatic lookout system detects vessels and other targets at sea even in near-zero visibility, and alerts the crew.

The London IPO

In December 2021, Windward listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. It was the first IPO of an Israeli technology company in the city in more than five years. It raised about £34.5 million before expenses, and its valuation at the IPO price was £126.5 million. According to Calcalist, up to the IPO the company had raised only about $35 million. Its investors and board members over the years included Marc Benioff, Li Ka-shing and former CIA director David Petraeus. Michael Eisenberg's Aleph fund was the largest shareholder at the time of the sale, with 14%.

The FTV Capital acquisition

On 24 December 2024, it was agreed that the American investment firm FTV Capital would acquire Windward in a cash deal that valued the company at about £216 million (about $270 million, according to Calcalist). That was almost twice the IPO valuation and a 47% premium over the previous day's closing price. In the first half of 2024 the company had revenue of $17.5 million, up 37%, and was still losing money. In March 2025 the acquisition was reported as completed; Windward became a private company and was delisted.

2026: maritime intelligence for governments and businesses

The company's announcements in 2026 come from London and Washington. In February 2026, Stuart Strachan, a former senior executive at S&P Global and IHS Markit, was appointed chairman of the board. In June 2026, retired Vice Admiral Bob Sharp, former director of the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), was appointed the company's Chief Maritime Intelligence Officer. According to the company, its customers include defense and intelligence agencies, law enforcement authorities and commercial companies.

What the story teaches

Windward shows how fairly open information, the position broadcasts of ships, becomes an asset of both commercial and security value through behavior analysis. The same technology serves insurers who price risk and government bodies that track vessels, and the focus on the US government market after the acquisition reflects this direction. It is also an example of a company founded in Israel, where most of its employees worked until the acquisition, but whose business announcements now come from London and Washington.