BackingMinds and Shift4Good have co-led a €2.3 million seed round in Cetasol, a Gothenburg-based company that uses AI to cut fuel consumption and emissions in shipping. Existing investor Sarsia also took part. Founded in 2020 by CEO Ethan Faghani, Cetasol has developed iHelm. The platform builds a digital twin of the vessel and its engine and gives the captain real-time recommendations to save fuel. Fleet operators also get a cloud dashboard for tracking performance, planning maintenance and monitoring compliance.

Cetasol focuses on small and mid-sized vessels. They make up nearly 90% of the global fleet but have largely been overlooked by maritime innovation, which has concentrated on large ships and electrification. Its customers can expect fuel savings of 10–25%. The funding will expand Cetasol’s commercial reach in key markets, deepen partnerships and develop the platform further.

“Cetasol is tackling one of the maritime industry’s biggest blind spots,” says Niclas Wijkström, CFO and Investment Director at BackingMinds.