Developing world leading underwater sensor technology
At Water Linked, we are on a mission to disrupt the market for underwater acoustics with our underwater communication system – developed from scratch with smart IoT technology.
Our story
In 2013, while working full time at his own underwater technology consultancy, Torgeir Trøite founded Water Linked in Trondheim, Norway. The objective was to address the need for reliable and affordable technology within the underwater industry through disruptive innovative product design. Oliver Skisland joined the company as CEO in late 2016 and quickly decided they had to test the waters with their newly developed underwater positioning system which they named the Underwater GPS (UGPS).
Oceanology International North America (OINA) in San Diego was chosen to showcase this new technology, where it received an overwhelmingly positive response. Market disruption had begun and we moved quickly to partner with Blue Robotics to ensure the final product was tailored to best suit the customer needs.
A decade of Water Linked - Anniversary film
Some of our valued partners
This relationship with Blue Robotics has remained strong and is expected to last for many years more due to a shared desire to provide customers with innovative and affordable solutions. As we gained recognition, we developed relationships with other leading vehicle manufacturers including Deep Trekker. The involvement and feedback from these trusted core partners has been integral in the development and success of our underwater navigation line of products.
Following the success of the UGPS it was time for further disruption to the underwater market by addressing the need for a velocity log that could be used on any size of ROV. In 2020 the A50 Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) was launched and this world's smallest DVL was a resounding success, confirming the market was hungry for bigger (yet smaller) and more innovative things.
Solid investors in a fast growing company
Through the successful launch of these innovative products Equinor and Investinor chose the summer of 2020 to join us on our mission and invest in the company, allowing for the continued development of a range of new products to meet the needs of a growing customer base. For us to work with such a heavy weight, hyper relevant duo is key to achieving the goals that were envisaged when Torgeir set up Water Linked in 2013.
This investment has allowed us to expand into an industry that is close to our heart and heritage; aquaculture.
Two CCOs hired in 2020-2021
Our perception of the aquaculture industry was that it could make great use of the product synergy from our established underwater navigation line to improve sustainability and productivity in the industry. At this point, late in 2020, it was natural to onboard Bjørn Sirnes as CCO Aquaculture. Bjørn brings a wealth of experience and industry knowledge from a range of industries, including aquaculture.
While aquaculture became a focus for innovation, the demand for our underwater navigation products kept increasing. To support this continuous, rapid growth, and allow Oliver to focus his time where it was most needed, we were fortunate to have Scott McLay join us as CCO Navigation in 2021. With more than 30 years’ experience in the industry, Scott is a recognized professional in the subsea market and he immediately became an invaluable member of our leadership team.
Water Linked, Investinor and Equinor joined forces in 2020. (Photo: Investinor)
From Finansavisens article about Water Linked's new investors. (Photo: Finansavisen)
Values
Bold, collaborative, reliable
To you, who spend the majority of your time in or under water, reliability is important. Being a reliable company that develops reliable technology to integrate in reliable tools is at our core. This core is one of the cornerstones on which we have built long lasting relationships with some amazing companies and institutions.
Creating this reliability throughout the full value chain of our company, from sales and support to testing and research, is not a one-person/department job. Be it about a product idea, a code debug, marketing ideas or a tricky support case - we ensure that everyone who would like to have a say, gets a say. Encouraging collaboration gives both us and our customers so much in return, including reliability.
By building trust and confidence through collaboration we also make it easier to be bold. Bold to come up with new ideas, bold to have unpopular opinions and, most importantly, bold to remove barriers.
Management team
Meet the people behind the brand. While most of our bright minds are located in Trondheim, Norway where we have our main office, we also have people working remotely from Aberdeen, Scotland.
Oliver Skisland
CEO
Torstein Skogseth
CFO
Pål Rune Johansen
COO
Scott McLay
CCO
Mona Aagaard
HR Manager
Sarah Irving
R&D Manager
Career opportunities
Could Water Linked be even better with YOU?
Are you searching for an opportunity to develop groundbreaking, underwater technology from scratch? Wanna help us solve new underwater tech problems and show us how to be even better? Well, then we might just be looking for you!