Marine technology company savvy navvy – founded by Dorset entrepreneur Jelte Liebrand  – has been crowned ‘Marine Business of the Year’.

The accolade was announced at the British Marine Trades Association Awards ceremony this week.

The win for the innovative technology business, often referred to as ‘Google maps for boats’, came in the same week that savvy navvy V2 is being rolled out in more than 100 countries across the globe.

Jelte, Founder & CEO, picked up the prestigious award in front of hundreds of leading industry peers from UK leisure marine association British Marine at The Grand in Southampton.

He said: “Being selected from more than 350 entries and to get the recognition of the industry as a whole is amazing.

“It’s been a big year for us surpassing 1,000,000 downloads and getting industry recognition the same week as the next generation savvy navvy is rolling out is incredible.”

With enhanced reliability, greater speed and a smoother user experience alongside some slick feature upgrades, the now 17-strong team behind savvy navvy has worked hard on the new and improved app by integrating ongoing feedback from its boating and watersports users.

Jelte, who lives in Poole, said: “Our core philosophy of being smart and savvy is to go beyond just mapping and navigation and solving real user problems.

“We are excited to release our new and improved app, which not only improves some speed and performance issues by integrating native technologies, but also gives users unique cutting-edge functionalities making boating simpler and safer for everyone.”

Earlier this year savvy navvy kicked off its most successful crowdfunding round to date.

In total it has raised more than £4.5 million in crowdfunding from more than 2,200 investors.

Key features of savvy navvy V2 include improved navigation mode, anchor alarm upgrades, cloud and rain overlays and wind gust forecasts.

savvy navvy is available on Android, IOS, PC and Mac and can be used on an unlimited number of devices simultaneously.

• To find out more or download the next generation savvy navvy app visit savvy-navvy.com.