bound4blue, a leader in wind propulsion systems, has closed a $44 million funding round backed by leading maritime corporates, ship owning families, climate-focused investors and government capital.
The round was led by OCTAVE Capital, an investment platform affiliated with major shipowner: IMC, and Katapult Ocean. The round brings together new investors including Motion Ventures, Odfjell family office and ReOcean Fund, led by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Monaco Asset Management, alongside existing investors Shift4Good, GTT Strategic Ventures, KAI Capital and CDTI (Innvierte SICC).
The new funding will accelerate bound4blue’s shift into full industrialization of suction sails and support efforts to deepen R&D as the company looks to grow beyond existing commercial offerings. The company is also responding to increased market demand by expanding manufacturing capacity to supply hundreds of suction sails annually.
Operational data continues to confirm the scale of impact bound4blue’s systems have had across several fleets. The company has installed its technology on seven vessels, with a further twelve ships in the orderbook, representing more than fifty sails in total. These projects span leading owners such as Maersk Tankers, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Odfjell, Klaveness Combination Carriers and BW Epic Kosan.
By 2027, the company is expected to deliver annual CO₂ savings of more than 400,000 tons, with over 570,000 tons avoided in total between 2024 and 2027—the equivalent of removing around 87,000 passenger cars from the road each year, planting more than 18 million trees, or avoiding over 250,000 transatlantic flights. This will be done through parallel production lines in Spain and China, enabling higher production throughput, stronger supply-chain resilience and faster delivery schedules.
By generating additional thrust from wind power, bound4blue’s suction sails ‘eSAILs’ reduce engine loads and fuel consumption, cutting vessel operating costs (with double digit savings) and CO₂ emissions. This greatly improves regulatory performance under frameworks like CII, EEXI/EEDI, FuelEU Maritime and EU ETS.
Independently verified results demonstrate consistent, tangible impact in service. On Ville de Bordeaux, third-party assessments reported daily fuel savings of 1.7 tons, with peaks reaching 5.4 tons. Separately, on Odfjell’s Bow Olympus, the system delivered average fuel-saving of 15-20%, with voyage-leg peaks of up to 40% reductions during its first transatlantic voyage. Verified under full operational conditions, bound4blue’s suction sails are delivering real savings today on vessels trading globally.
The maritime industry is entering what many describe as the “retrofit decade," with tens of thousands of vessels requiring efficiency upgrades before 2030. Unlike alternative fuels, which face long timelines for global availability, engine compatibility and bunkering infrastructure, suction sails can be installed on today’s ships, operated by today’s crews. The technology is also increasingly being incorporated into newbuild designs, where it offers an additional long-term lever to reduce fuel consumption and carbon exposure from day one. This positions bound4blue to support both the large retrofit wave already underway and the growing number of newbuild projects integrating wind propulsion from the outset.
“This round signals a new phase for bound4blue. Earlier stages focused on proving the technology and validating its impact; now this new capital reinforces the long-term backing we already have from investors who understand shipping and share our industrial vision and the role this technology will play across the fleet,” said José Miguel Bermúdez, CEO & Co-Founder of bound4blue. “This funding enables us to expand capacity, accelerate our growth roadmap and advance new developments that will elevate both the technology and our services to the next level. It confirms that bound4blue is built on solid foundations and positioned for sustained global deployment,” he added.
