Ocean Founders, a collective of maritime tech founders has launched to advocate for industry step changes which could reduce friction for innovation and amplify resources for startups facing go-to-market hurdles.
“The maritime value chain is too complex for a single actor to innovate alone. While ecosystem support services are developing around us, the voices of founders on the front lines of innovation are still being overlooked. Launching Ocean Founders is our collective effort to advocate for what’s really needed to bring barriers down so the industry at large can make progress to really innovate,” said Nick Clarke, CEO at Greywing.
The maritime value chain is too complex for a single actor to innovate alone
Maritime leaders including Greywing co-founders Nick Clarke and Hrishi Olickel, Portcast founder Nidhi Gupta, and Shipskart co-founder Dhruv Sawhney have already joined the Ocean Founders, with more in the process of onboarding and an open call for others to join.
Ocean Founders will create a platform for maritime startup founders. Ocean Founders will run a mix of closed-door and public dialogues with startup founders, to shed light on hurdles obstructing innovation in the sector. An annual report capturing the state of maritime tech will also be published to give industry decision-makers a candid view of hurdles, progress made and opportunity gaps to leverage on.
Ocean Founders will also lead dialogues with Motion Venture’s Alliance to give decision-makers across maritime’s private and public sectors a better understanding of founder needs and hurdles. Motion Ventures’ Alliance includes more than 60 leading industry veterans from companies including Wilhelmsen, HHLA, IMC, Signal, MOL and more.
“Ocean Founders gives the maritime industry a major opportunity to hear from the heart of innovation. Startups will have a platform to voice out what’s obstructing innovation while connecting with ready-to-disrupt corporates who want to be clued into the industry’s next frontier,” said Shaun Hon, founder and general partner at Motion Ventures.
