Rovco and Vaarst merge to form new company

Offshore wind technology companies, Rovco and Vaarst, have merged under a new brand: Beam.global.

The UK-headquartered Beam aims to automate offshore wind and provide innovations to boost efficiencies and reduce costs for survey and subsea work across all lifecycle stages.

Rovco and Vaarst have specialised in developing and deploying AI and autonomy-enabled services in the offshore wind sector. Providing technologies to meet the requirements of the survey and subsea sectors will remain at the core of the new brand offering.

Rovco was founded by Brian Allen in 2016, with technology spin-off Vaarst later launched by Allen in 2021. The decision to unite the companies under one name follows several years of rapid growth and will support future technological ambitions.

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Allen will continue in the CEO role at Beam, with the merger of the two companies creating a combined workforce of over 200 employees.

Beam is set for further expansion in the coming year, hiring over 150 new employees across the UK in a variety of high-technology roles at its Bristol, Aberdeen and Edinburgh offices.

Global growth will also see Beam recruit an additional 50 positions in other global markets, including 25 in the US and 10 in Asia.

Brian Allen, CEO of Beam, stated: “It’s never been more important to find ways to cut costs and project timelines. This merger under a united brand makes Beam the only company in the world with a unique combination of subsea AI, computer vision, sonar and autonomous advanced robotics. Our mission is to deliver real world impact in the offshore wind industry by making it cost competitive with oil and gas, which is a pivotal step in ending the world’s dependence on fossil fuels.”