Bellevue-based SARS tracks what moves

Who: Clayton Shelver, chief executive of Bellevue-based SARS

What it does: Tracks aircraft, ships and vehicles around the world using GPS and displays their locations on online maps.

Background: SARS was started in Alaska by Yukon Fuel, a tug and barge company owned by Shelver's family. Shelver said the company needed a better way to track its boats, so he started tinkering and came up with a system close to what's used today.

Name that acronym: Yukon Fuel spun off the tracking unit in 2001 and called it SARS, for Secure Asset Reporting Services (long before the acronym became known for the illness "severe acute respiratory syndrome").

SARS also is a Coast Guard acronym for "search-and-rescue services." The company's original motto was "We take the Search out of Search and Rescue."

Back and forth: In 2005, SARS merged with Seattle-based VSI Wireless, which was competing in the same business.

In August, SARS completed a reverse merger with Mycom Group to become a publicly held company. It is now listed under the ticker SARO on the over-the-counter bulletin board.

How it works: The Coast Guard uses SARS' system to find boats in distress. Although the Coast Guard can gain access to a boat's coordinates without any help, SARS makes it easier by tracking the boat on a map.

Example: The system is used in the Gulf of Mexico during hurricanes. During those storms, big oil drill rigs will be abandoned. If a rig shifts when no one is on it, SARS will alert the owner to its new location.

Growth: Much of the company's growth stems from new Homeland Security regulations that require tracking of ships coming into the U.S. It also can track all of a company's assets — trucks, airplanes and boats — on land, sea or air.

The numbers: For the year ended Sept. 30, the 24-person company reported $1 million in revenue. It expects revenue this year to jump to $14 million.

Fundraising: SARS is raising $13.5 million in capital.

— Tricia Duryee