 On 1 July 2011, Raymarine Nederland's own branch (in Velp) was opened, after the then importer, Holland Nautic Apeldoorn, had indicated that it wanted to stop distributing the brand.The company began as a division of the American company Raytheon, a manufacturer of defense systems, when it launched its first echo depth sounder in 1923.In 1958 Raytheon was able to increase its product offering and market share through the takeover of Apelco.