Pole Star Announces Robert Skea as New CEO

Pole Star Space Applications, the global leader in maritime intelligence and technology, today announced the appointment of Robert Skea as its new Chief Executive Officer. In his role, Skea will spearhead the Company’s global expansion following last year’s successful growth investment.

Skea brings to Pole Star a proven track record of translating market insights into executable strategies and building profitable businesses within the analytics, fintech, and software industries. He specializes in turning complex technology and data into marketable products and driving Go-to-Market acceleration and growth. Prior to joining Pole Star, Skea was most recently Chief Executive Officer at Discovery Data, which was sold to ISS Governance in 2021. Prior to Discovery Data, Skea ran North America for Dun & Bradstreet from 2014 to 2019. Skea brings a wealth of experience at a pivotal point in the company’s development.

Skea succeeds Julian Longson, who was instrumental in building Pole Star’s business through the last phase to scale. Longson will move into a new role as an advisor focused on key corporate growth initiatives.

Commenting on Skea’s addition to the management team, Deepak Sindwani, Managing Partner at Wavecrest Growth Partners, which co-led the Company’s growth financing in 2021, said: “The maritime industry is ripe for change and disruption, and we’re excited to have Bob join Pole Star at a very exciting time for the business to help us drive accelerated growth and to extend our market leadership. Bob is a leader in bringing data and analytics products to market in simple, customer-centric approaches.”

Skea says: “I’m very excited to be brought into Pole Star at this time. The organization has been a well-established market leader since 1998, and yet the opportunity to grow even further is tremendous. The critical impact that maritime channels have on the global supply chain has never been more important. I’m looking forward to collaborating with our senior management and global teams on how to advance our product offering and increase our presence in the global market. I’d like to thank Julian Longson, for his 7-year contribution as CEO and his 24 years with the company. ”

Chairman of the Board Michael Jankowski says: “We are pleased to welcome Bob to Pole Star and have him in the CEO role. He is a proven leader with a clear vision to expand the company’s success and take us into our next phase of growth and innovation.”