NextBoat Inc. (NYSE American: NXB), a pre-owned boat company headquartered in Wilmington, announced Wednesday a strategic partnership with MarineMax Inc. (NYSE: HZO), one of the world’s largest recreational boat and yacht retailers.

"Under the agreement, MarineMax becomes the first enterprise dealer group to adopt the NextBoat AI platform as its preferred wholesale partner, routing a significant and growing share of the trade-in and pre-owned inventory it liquidates through the platform where that inventory is evaluated, marketed and sold into NextBoat’s nationwide network of wholesale buyers," according to a news release.

Officials expect an increase in volume across the NextBoat AI platform following the partnership. According to the release, MarineMax is one of the highest-volume sellers of pre-owned boats in the industry, with over $2.3 billion in annual revenue across 120 locations worldwide – including a dealership in Wrightsville Beach.

The partnership will last for at least five years, according to SEC filings, and will use Newcoast, MarineMax's finance and insurance arm, as the company's internal financing platform. 

"As transaction volume increases, each financed and insured vessel has the potential to generate recurring insurance renewal revenue and additional financing income, creating what the company believes could become a meaningful annuity-like revenue stream for both organizations over time," the release stated.

Under the revenue-sharing agreement, the companies will initially split qualifying financing income equally. After financing income exceeds $500,000, the split changes to 60% for NextBoat and 40% for MarineMax, according to SEC filings.

Officials stated in the release that the partnership "represents a defining milestone in its strategy to become the leading technology infrastructure for the marine industry’s pre-owned marketplace."

Jason Ruegg, founder and chairman of NextBoat, stated in the release, “For 15 years, I’ve believed the marine industry deserved the same technology, transparency and scale that transformed automotive retail. Today, the largest and most respected company in our industry has chosen to deploy the platform we built – we believe that validation speaks not only to what NextBoat has built, but to where this industry is headed."

NextBoat rebranded from Off the Hook Yachts earlier this year to better reflect the company's scale, technology and long-term vision, officials said.

According to SEC filings, as part of the agreement, NextBoat has agreed to issue to MarineMax warrants to purchase up to 1.25 million shares of common stock, at prices ranging from $3.25 to $7 per share. 

For decades, the wholesale and trade-in process has relied on fragmented buyer networks, manual pricing, phone calls and individual relationships, according to the release.

"NextBoat AI was built to modernize that process through artificial intelligence, real-time transaction data and a unified digital marketplace that enables dealers to move inventory faster, improve pricing transparency, and increase operational efficiency," the release stated.

According to the release, some of the offerings of the NextBoat AI Platform are AI-powered vessel valuations "supported by real transaction data;" real-time transaction management and deal tracking; "rapid" wholesale bidding and nationwide buyer access; automated workflow and communication tools; and analytics that are "designed to improve inventory decisions and speed conversion to cash Integrated financing and marine insurance opportunities.”

​Kyle Langbehn, executive vice president and president of retail operations at MarineMax, stated in the release, “By integrating NextBoat’s advanced technology into our pre-owned retail platform, we believe we can improve efficiency while continuing to deliver exceptional service to our customers. Additionally, the partnership with Newcoast will drive meaningful finance and insurance revenue with the industry’s leading team and products.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, NextBoat's stock was priced at $2.39 a share. Since NextBoat went public in November, the company's stock has declined by over 33%, according to Yahoo Finance data.