Hamburg maritime tech start-up NautilusLog is stepping up its war on paperwork in shipping after closing its second seed financing round.
The company, co-founded by entrepreneur Otto Klemke, has raised €1m ($1.2m) in a deal with lead investor NBank Capital, a domestic fund and various "business angels". These include another unnamed investment company.
The cash will be used to expand the team and platform for new services and enable the company to serve "rapidly growing global customer demand", NautilusLog said.
Started in 2016 as a side project when Klemke ran his own Securizon company, NautilusLog was officially founded in 2018.
Throw that paper in the bin
The platform's app aims to digitise the usual round of paper-based shipping processes, such as inventories of hazardous material (IHM).
Clients include owners, ports, surveyors, insurers and banks.
NautilusLog told TradeWinds that it already has nearly 3,000 ships signed up for the IHM service, including Oldendorff Carriers.
It also said it works with Zeaborn Ship Management, Stena Drilling, Dutch offshore vessel contractor Fugro, Reederei NSB and Nordic Hamburg, among others.
In December alone, 700 vessels joined the platform.
New possibilities
"Together with maritime stakeholders, we are looking at new possibilities," NautilusLog head of sales and development Wouter Hagens told TradeWinds.
"Therefore, we are working on new ISO [International Organization for Standardization] standards to be able to provide even more services in the very near future."
Last year, Oldendorff was able to complete its IHM work early by automating the process with NautilusLog and GSR Services.
The app allows scanning of identification numbers straight into the platform for assessment.
The tech company's first financing was provided by Hamburg Investment & Development Bank.
Confidence demonstrated
"The investors in this funding round underline the confidence in NautilusLog and its long-term vision to unite all maritime stakeholders as well as partners," the company said.
New services will focus on digitalisation, automation and sustainability.
The aim is to lower costs through efficiency.
"Laws and regulations for shipping are becoming increasingly complex, but technical progress does not always develop in parallel," said Martin Ranic, investment manager at NBank Capital.
"Stricter environmental conditions and international competition are creating enormous cost pressures. Therefore, the market is just asking for NautilusLog's digital solutions."
NautilusLog has a staff of 14 at the moment.
Klemke said: "We are excited to grow our team to be able to place new services faster into the market."
