Port Innovation Ecosystem Reimagined @ BLOCK71 (PIER71), a collaboration between Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and NUS Enterprise, has selected and announced 13 startups that will work together alongside PIER71 in providing solutions and support of the industry transformation plans for maritime.

The selection, the programme noted, was made based on their solutions for the given problem statements at the 2018 Smart Port Challenge, held in Singapore in November last year. Each start-up received US$36,000 in funds from MPA to further develop their prototypes and to address the challenges faced by maritime corporates in Singapore.

Singapore’s maritime eco-system comprises over 5,000 establishments contributing to about 7 per cent of Singapore’s GDP, and employs about 170,000 people.

According to the 2019 Leading Maritime Capitals Of The World Report, Singapore has also maintained its position as the maritime capital of the world in three pillars – Shipping, Ports and Logistics, and Attractiveness and Competitiveness.

Also Read: MPA and NUS Enterprise to inject US$479K seed funding to 13 startups

Out of the 13 startups who received the MPA funding, 11 are Singapore-based. Five of them are:

  • Ocean Freight Exchange (OFE), a Singapore-based tech startup that won the 2018 Smart Port Challenge with its AI-driven marketplace for charterers, ship owners, and brokers in the dry bulk, tanker, and gas markets. OFE offers predictive analytics for supply and demand, vessel tracking, calculated vessel arrival times, comparing vessels and costings, and many others on one consolidated platform using AI and predictive analytics.
  • SkyLab, 2018 Smart Port Challenge’s 1st Runners-up, is an AI-driven startup that offers deep technology software on the development of Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), data logistics, and edge cloud computing technologies, to tackle the issues of constant changing bandwidths, packet losses and latency, network congestion and retransmission hamper the smooth flow of internet traffic through wireless networks like satellite links.
  • Claritecs, 2018 Smart Port Challenge second runner up, is a startup that offers its flagship solution -BunkerMaestro- an algorithm-based SaaS platform incorporating information services from MPA’s Maritime Data Hub and MarineTraffic to provide data-driven insights for bunker scheduling clarity. Claritecs recently secured a US$600,000 in pre-Series A funding from INNOPORT, the corporate venture capital unit of the globally operating ship owner and ship management company Bernhard Schulte
  • Aeras Medical, a startup that aims to address the challenge of getting medical help when the crew is at sea. In 2016, Aeras Medical won the National Vital Signs Monitoring Project and operated the end-to-end solution for remote monitoring of post-operative patients.
  • Portcast, a maritime logistics startup backed by Wavemaker Pacific, SG Innovate. and Enterprise First, amongst other investors. It uses proprietary machine learning and external datasets, including economic, satellite, and operational data, to predict global cargo flows and help companies in dynamic pricing, and to monetise their assets more effectively.

PIER71 recently saw the close of its application period for the third edition of the Smart Port Challenge; with 29 problem statements contributed by Jurong Port, PSA Unboxed, TATA NYK Shipping, Wärtsilä, Wilhelmsen, and Vopak for the contenders to address.

Following their shortlisting, startups will be put through a six-week programme and work with industry partners to fine-tune their solutions. This will culminate in a Grand Final on November 7, 2019 to showcase their solutions to various stakeholders.
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Photo by Jatniel Tunon on Unsplash

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