Smart-Ship was founded in September 2018 by the brothers Roy and Brent Kok, directly after Roy’s graduation from the Delft University of Technology. During his graduation, Roy has researched the potential of haptics in shock mitigation on small fast ships sailing in high wave conditions. In September 2018, the brothers directly joined the YES!Delft Validation Lab during which they found great potential in the maritime sector for their technology. In January 2019, Jelle Tiemensma joined the team as CTO after which Smart-Ship participated in the YES!Delft Accelerator program, to get their technology onto the market.

Directly from the start, the Smart-Ship team was determined to disrupt the maritime sector by challenging the status quo in maritime information transfer. Roy, Brent and Jelle form a young and dynamic team with a shared mission to enable a sustainable future for maritime operations with respect to people, equipment and the environment.