 The company was founded in 2005 by Dutch entrepreneur Bert Houtman.U-Boat Worx delivers manned submersibles for exploration, research, yachts and tourism applications.In the early 2000s, after a successful career in the software industry culminating in the Stock Exchange listing of his company, Exact Software, Houtman commenced looking for a personal submarine for his own enjoyment, only to find that submersibles were the sole domain of military or institutional scientific users.