Motion Ventures, the Singapore-based maritime start-up venture fund, has secured the backing of more top names from the shipping industry.
Lloyd’s Register and Kpler-owned MarineTraffic are among 10 new companies signing up to the venture which says their addition will introduce new industry capabilities and strategic geographic value to startups.
The remaining new investors include Stolt-Nielsen, Meratus, ShipsFocus, Jurni Capital, Taiship, Pangaea Logistics, Neptune Lines and Vineta Ventures.
While financial terms were not disclosed, Stolt-Nielsen revealed in its recent third-quarter results that it had committed $750,000 to the fund in December 2022.
Motion Ventures’ corporate consortium now has the backing of 15 maritime companies, including Wilhelmsen, HHLA Next, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL)’s corporate venture arm MOL PLUS, IMC Ventures and Signal Ventures.
The venture fund claims that to date, no other maritime fund has had as much participation from conglomerates in the industry.
Motion Ventures said start-ups that have received backing from its fund include Freightify, Everimpact and Greywing as well as other startups “across the spectrum of the maritime value chain”.
“The tension to innovate, while accelerating profitability and product market fit in the current startup economy, makes it even more challenging for the maritime industry to meaningfully scale the right solutions,” said Shaun Hon, founder and general partner of Motion Ventures.
“We’re operating in one of the most complex sectors for any founder to navigate – startups not only have to must win several siloes across the value chain even before being battle-tested by the market.
“It’s why we expanded our corporate consortium with capabilities that would support our portfolio companies to fuel the golden age of maritime supply chains,” he added.
Chakib Abi-Saab, Lloyd’s Register’s chief technology and innovation officer said the class societies participation in Motion Ventures highlights its ongoing commitment to digital transformation in the maritime industry.
“Joining the corporate consortium gives us yet another opportunity to support startups in a fresh way as they solve some of the biggest challenges, such as decarbonisation, increased safety, and improving the well-being of seafarers across the world,” he added.
A local government minister stated in 2021 that Singapore's goal was to become the "top maritime start-up hub in the world, the Silicon Valley for maritime technology”.
He famously stated: “If we don’t stay ahead of the competition, others will steal our lunch."
