Rainmaking, a corporate innovation and venture development firm, has matched Cargotec, HHLA, Inmarsat, Shell, and Wärtsilä with a total of eight start-ups through its Trade & Transport Impact Programme.

Start-ups in this round of the Programme - Bigyellowfish, CyberOwl, i4sea, Jujotech,  KoiReader Technologies, Scoutbase, Signol, and Teqplay - specialise in port- and cyber-security, energy-optimisation, and crew welfare. The parties will now work on 13 separate projects related to safety, security and crew welfare, optimisation of port and vessel operations, and autonomous operations and equipment.

The third cycle of the Programme begins in Q1 2020, at which point more organisations will be able to join. At the same time Rainmaking is also launching a decarbonisation programme in Singapore, which specifically focuses on start-ups with solutions that support the transition to a zero-carbon future for shipping.

"There is growing recognition that the maritime industry needs to innovate, and fast. As appetite for fresh thinking, insight, and technology swells, bringing together established maritime leaders with technology start-ups is what's needed to deliver genuine business results quickly," Nicklas Viby Fursund, Partner, Rainmaking, commented.

Clara Wahnich, Digital Innovation Partnerships Lead, Inmarsat, also said, "The Trade and Transport Impact Programme made a big difference to us because it pushed people to act. Both Inmarsat and CyberOwl felt compelled to ensure that something happened within the initial six weeks and this allowed us to validate the opportunity. We have now built a great foundation for our engagement and joint exploration going forward."

Michael Andronicou, Project Lead - New Marine Ventures, Shell, said, "We have had great success working with Scoutbase, whose technology collects data to reduce human error. Our business has been hugely engaged - everyone is really keen and loves the energy that Scoutbase has brought to the table, as well as the product itself. Going forward in 2020 we are really excited to hopefully start rolling this product out."

Tero Hottinen, Director for Emerging Digital Business, Cargotec, shared his company's experiences, "The Trade and Transport Impact Programme provides an excellent framework to explore collaborations with start-ups - not only for scouting and finding the good ones, but also to encourage impetus and progress within a certain timeframe. We are working with two different companies that have truly complementary offerings to ours. We probably wouldn't have trialled both at the same time in a synergistic manner without Rainmaking, so it really has been beneficial from that perspective."

While Till Schlumberger, Strategy Consultant in Digital Transformation, highlighted HHLA's, "We're working with KoiReader to make improvements in the detection of container damage. While it's currently a proof of concept, we hope to continue with the project and without Rainmaking's Trade and Transport Impact Programme, we probably would never have met KoiReader."

Last but not least, Steffen Knodt, Director New Ventures, Wärtsilä, said, "Energy efficiency is one of the most important factors in shipping today, and we are trying to find new ways of improving it. Signol has enabled us to reach the decision makers on-board and better support them with fuel consumption, energy efficiency and operations. We need to bring in start-ups and knowledge from outside the industry to support us in finding ways to do things better. And Rainmaking is helping us to do just that."

Photo: Rainmaking