Arksen announces £6m Series A funding round

Explorer and adventure yacht builder Arksen has launched its first public investment round. The UK firm is raising £6m Series A capital from institutional and retail investors.

The company was founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Jasper Smith. The firm, which has three business pillars — marine, automotive and apparel – reported revenues of £18.5m in the last 18 months of operations, with a forward sales pipeline of over £156m.

The company says it has sold 21 of its explorer boats to date. Market intelligence by Grand View Research indicates the company has a $1.37tn total addressable market set to reach $2.3tn within the luxury travel market by 2030.

Arksen says proceeds from the equity funding will be used to accelerate marketing and geographic expansion, for working capital for expanded product development and to increase stock levels to support rapid dealer growth.

The company is seeking margin enhancement through more sophisticated customer acquisition technologies and greater direct channel presence. The US and Asia are key markets for development. Higher operational expenditure and larger teams will enhance new product evolution, and Arksen will begin to hold a limited stock of products for immediate sale instead of making vessels to order.

“The adventure industry, and more particularly, the marine sector, is going through a profound change—driven by emerging technologies and the necessity to adopt a circular economy,” says Arksen founder and CEO Jasper Smith. “We are proud to be pioneering these positive changes, building a company united on a mission to create class-leading products and enabling our community to help own part of that future.”

Earlier this year, Arksen confirmed its new Arksen 8 RIB will make its world debut during the upcoming spring season.