# Neil Sobin

> Neil Sobin is the founder and CEO of Quartermaster, an Arlington, Virginia company turning working ships into sensing nodes for a global maritime intelligence network. Its SmartMast hardware bolts weather-hardened cameras and radios onto vessel masts, runs AI at the edge, and stitches the feeds into a live picture of the open ocean. After building distributed networks at Hivemapper and AI infrastructure at Scale AI, Sobin raised a $43M Series A in May 2026 co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital, with more than 600 vessels already covering 10 million square miles and assisting 20-plus rescues.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Quartermaster
- **Organizations:** Quartermaster, Scale AI, Hivemapper, Enview, Everbridge, U.S. Department of Commerce (SelectUSA)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A., University of Chicago
- **Known for:** Founded Quartermaster and built the SmartMast onboard sensing platform., Deployed SmartMast on 600+ active commercial vessels across 25 countries and four continents., Coverage exceeding 10 million square miles of ocean.

## Career timeline

- **2007-2011** — Studies at the University of Chicago, earning a B.A.
- **2015** — Begins career in tech; early role as an intern at SelectUSA, U.S. Department of Commerce.
- **—** — Strategic Account Executive at Everbridge; Director of Government at Enview.
- **—** — Director of Growth at Hivemapper, building a decentralized network of everyday cars mapping the world.
- **—** — Deployment Strategy (Federal) at Scale AI; led Navy growth and delivered AI capabilities to defense customers.
- **2026-05** — Quartermaster raises a $43M Series A co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital.

## Achievements

- Founded Quartermaster and built the SmartMast onboard sensing platform.
- Deployed SmartMast on 600+ active commercial vessels across 25 countries and four continents.
- Coverage exceeding 10 million square miles of ocean.
- Network has assisted in 20-plus maritime rescues.
- Raised a $43M Series A in May 2026 co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Quartermaster closed a $43M Series A co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital, with participation from TMV, Steel Atlas, BoxGroup, Operator Partners, Shorewind Capital and David Adelman.

## Links

- Website: https://quartermaster.us
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/neilsobin

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/neil-sobin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-10