Zelim Names USCG Senior as Head of New Business Unit for North America

December 11, 2024

L to R: Zelim’s Technical Lead Rory Hughes, Zelim CTO Doug Lothian, and Commander Matthew Mitchell, who joins Zelim to head up the company’s expansion across North America (Credit: Zelim)

Zelim, an Edinburgh-based maritime safety innovator, has appointed a former Commander of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Matthew Mitchell to lead its U.S. office as part of the strategy to open new markets for its man-overboard and security threat detection and recovery technologies.

Commander Matthew Mitchell, who has 20 years’ service with the USCG, most recently as head of search and rescue and policy, joins Zelim as Director of Search and Rescue to lead the newly incorporated Zelim LLC and support the company’s expansion across North America and other regions.

Zelim LLC is currently being set up on the USA’s East Coast, with the recruitment of a team to build on early sales of the ZOE Intelligent Detection system, GUARDIAN rescue craft, and SWIFT Man-overboard Recovery Conveyor across the cruise, offshore energy, coastguard, and defense sectors.

Mitchell’s follows Zelim’s successful closure of Series A investment, with the company receiving $6.6 million in funding to scale up and expand from Amati Global Investors, existing investors, and several new private investors.

A further $2.5 million was secured from Innovate UK’s Innovation Loan program, which will fund ongoing development of the ZOE product line.

“Matt has already played a pivotal role in securing a cooperative R&D agreement with the USCG, resulting in ZOE’s development and market introduction. We look forward to continuing this relationship and drawing on Matt’s extensive experience and network as our new Director of Search and Rescue,” said Doug Lothian, Zelim’s CTO and co-founder.

“As the former chief of policy for the United States Coast Guard Search and Rescue division, I have witnessed first-hand the limitations of existing tools and technologies. Zelim’s solutions represent a quantum leap forward in man-overboard monitoring and response, and I am determined to ensure this technology is implemented worldwide,” added Mitchell, Zelim’s new Director of Search and Rescue.