Sea-Flux, a New Zealand-based maritime technology company, has raised nearly NZD $3 million (about AUD$2.7 million) in a seed funding round led by Punakaiki Fund, which now holds a 13% stake in the business.
The company develops a cloud-based vessel management software that combines compliance, safety, maintenance, and crew management, with offline capabilities accessible across devices. Its platform is used by more than 1,300 vessels and nearly 9,000 users, up from 1,000 vessels in June 2025. Sea-Flux won the Innovation Award for Electronic and Electrical Systems at the 2024 European Commercial Marine Awards in Southampton, England.
Founded by former commercial vessel skipper Tai Ellis, Sea-Flux was created to replace paper-based and fragmented systems at sea with a mobile-first, software system. The platform aims to streamline maritime operations, improve safety, and reduce risks to both crews and the environment.
The funding is intended to support product development, customer-focused research and development, and international expansion, including markets in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and India.
“Partnering with Punakaiki Fund marks an important milestone,” said Mr Ellis, Founder and CEO of Sea-Flux. “Their track record investing in and scaling SaaS businesses and deep industry expertise will help us move faster and serve our customers better.” “We didn’t want just any funding, we wanted smart funding, partnering with people who deeply understand what we do, our vision, and what’s at stake for the maritime world”.
Punakaiki Fund highlighted Sea-Flux’s technology, market potential, and experienced team as key factors in its investment, and said it will support the company’s growth as it scales globally.
Punakaiki Fund Investment Manager, Cormac McCullough commented: “Tai and the Sea-Flux team know the market inside and out,” says Cormac. “They’ve used their deep industry insights to create a product that’s impressively fit for purpose. Sea-Flux has a strong opportunity to become the global leader in their niche. This funding marks the beginning of an exciting growth story. We’re looking forward to supporting them as they scale.”
The Punakaiki Fund currently has 17 companies in its portfolio and an asset value of NZD$110 million as at 31 July 2025. Founded circa 2012-2014, Punakaiki Fund made its first investment in early 2014. It has made over 120 investments in more than 30 companies.
Case Study – the Pacific Marine Group
Pacific Marine Group is based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It focuses on marine contracting and commercial diving, with fleet of 26 vessels including tugs and barges.
Sam Hall, Marine Operations Manager commented, “We were running a heavy paper-based Safety Management System through an outdated ‘Dropbox’ system across our fleet that was not an interactive system between the vessels, crew, and the shore-based management team. We were failing in DOC and SMS Audits due to the poor paper trail and our vessel certificate tracking. We wanted to have all our vessel related documentation in one location”.
Mr Hall added that the Sea-Flux system has enabled Pacific Marine Group to keep Fleet SMS, and forms, while ensuring each vessel can have specific checks and maintenance tasks.
“Initially there were some concerns with senior staff migrating over from a paper-based system to a digital system, however, they have picked it up no problems at all. The feedback received from our senior masters is very positive. They have commented on how time saving it is for them onboard and how everything is at the touch of their fingers. Sea-Flux is a one stop shop for our department. It services our senior marine operations staff, senior marine maintenance staff and our crew members. Every person is working off the same platform.”
