Rotterdam Selects Top Innovation Startups

By John Konrad and Mitja Caboni (Rotterdam) This week gCaptain was on hand at the prestigious startup accelerator PortXL where the storm Ciara ravaged The Netherlands with 120+ km/h gales but did not dampen the spirits of some of the world’s most innovative new companies.

Despite the adverse weather conditions, a record 40 young companies braved the elements and travelled to Rotterdam to showcase new solutions to the PortXL ecosystem of partners, mentors and other professionals from across the maritime, energy, logistics and oil sectors.

Unfazed by the weather, PortXL kicked off the 5th edition of its yearly Rotterdam program with the conclusion of the selection days. The selection days consisted of two intense days of pitches, Q&As, partner evaluations, and technology scans that allowed the participants to interact with about 200 members of the port ecosystem. The 40 shortlisted start-ups & scale-ups were evaluated by an expert jury based on their performance and the potential impact of their products and services.

27 innovative companies from across the globe selected for the PortXL 2020 Rotterdam cohort. Out of these 27, 10 are start-ups & 17 are scale-ups. PortXL categorizes companies based on their growth stage and revenue.

The start-ups will now embark on an intense 3-months acceleration program, while the scale-ups will board the business fast track program over the same time period, starting on the 16th of March and ending with Shakedown – the maritime-themed version of Demo Day – on the 25th of June.

2020 Selected Scaleup

blkSAIL – USA

Software based Autonomy On-Demand, blkSAIL is assembling the AI and software bricks to power the future of maritime industry. Specifically, their system assists captains and ship operators in saving fuel, maximizing returns, analyze risk, and avoid incidents at sea. The system can send live data ashore during maritime emergencies.

AAApropulsion – The Netherlands
Answering the maritime industry’s call for reductions in fuel consumption, achieving that through equipment which increases propulsion efficiency, lowers maintenance costs and monitors exhaust emissions.

AI in Motion – The Netherlands
Provides vehicle developers with customized AI solutions for machine perception & localization to support autonomous driving development. Its solutions consist of services such as sensor selection, data collection, localization, on-board planning, anti- hacking measures, and system deployment.

Bionic Technology – The Netherlands
Their nanocoating solutions are the most high-quality products in biotechnology and have been carefully developed and produced for the protection of various surfaces.

Bio-Raiser – Finland
Developed an Algae Collector that is specially developed to minimize or eliminate damage caused to the environment through agriculture. By moving and binding leached nutrients found in water systems back into fields they offer a permanent, lasting solution. Their Hydro bio-flakes are filled with nutrients for farming industry that double as absorbents for marine oil spills.

Delfos – Brazil
Delfos is a maintenance platform that integrates machine learning modules, and technical knowledge to derive insights out of existing data from wind power plant monitoring/SCADA solutions. Claims to avoid unexpected downtimes, optimize O&M planning, increase asset lifetime as well as increase asset performance for wind turbines.

Evertracker – Germany
Providing full predictability and visibility along your entire global supply chain with almost one click. Developed the first smart and neural control tower for and with leading corporations.

FishFlow Innovations – The Netherlands
Innovative fish migration facilities and protection systems. Their mission is to contribute to solve migration barriers for fish and prevent damage to fish through their tailor-made products. As part of their vision, they developed a fish-friendly turbine for vessels that requires lower power to operate.

Foru Solution – The Netherlands
Total solution to clean up oil spills. It includes booms, bladders, power packs and a mechanical down-draft system; designed for near shore, harbour, river, lake and offshore conditions. Their down-draft systems can be deployed, stored without assembly and easily placed into the pocket of dynamic sweeping systems.

InnoTractor – The Netherlands
Their industrial IoT solutions are amazing for achieving better business insights & actionable data. This is the fundament for further automation & innovation of processes and services.

Macomi – The Netherlands
Specialized in advanced business analytics. Using an innovative, in-house built platform, they are able to cover the entire analytics landscape, leveraging data and process maps to understand, forecast, and optimize your business.

Nido Robotics – Spain/Chile
Nido Robotics develop and manufacture Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (robots), used by coastal industries like aquaculture, utilities, shipping, ports to carry out inspections and maintenance in an efficient and safe manner. They offer remotely operated vehicles that are super portable and easy to deploy by anyone, anywhere, anytime. The company is also developing a completely autonomous robot than can be permanently installed on offshore installations.

Oculavis – Germany
Transforming the way service and maintenance is done by revolutionizing manual operations in production, quality assurance and field service with the deployment of smart wearables.

T-mining – Belgium
T-mining improves efficiency in logistics and transport by better data sharing and secure title transfer. Developing blockchain-enabled software solutions easier & faster by leveraging a number of ready-made components

Triogen – The Netherlands
Leading organic rankine cycle (ORC) manufacturer and supplier whose ORC technology converts heat from your business process into €. When applied to landfill sites, digesters, diesel engines, wood burners, furnaces, etc. the Triogen ORC produces valuable green electricity.

VRT – Finland
Pioneers of 3D surveys and utilisation of 3D data with multibeam sonar, laser and drone inspections will definitely be lively at the Selection Days in explaining how their service offers a combined view of the condition of under and above water structures, in addition to seabed with interpreted 3D data delivered to you online.

Water Lens – USA
Developed a system for real-time chemical analysis of water and other fluids, on location, for industries that use large amounts of water (e.g., oil and gas, agriculture, power generation, coal mining, and food processing).

2020 Selected Start-ups

Ambisense – Ireland
Solar powered autonomous monitoring system for remote monitoring of environmental parameters. The continuous flow of data can be used to setup alerts or downstream processes in case of any dangerous or unwanted behaviour due to emissions of gases.

eYard – Spain
Container placement optimization. With their proprietary algorithm they greatly reduce the number of unproductive moves in the terminal, lowering the cost for the operator and improving overall efficiency.

F-drones – Singapore
The world’s first transition drone to enable aerial deliveries to oil rigs and ships. The unique design has a combination of heavy payload and long-range capabilities that make the drone able to take-off vertically, fly like a fixed-wing aircraft, and land on a moving target.

Fishi Robotics – Denmark
Underwater semi-autonomous hull inspection using a modified ROV. Creating 3D visualisation maps to speed up maintenance on vessels.

Fuelsave – Germany
True to its name – its objective is to save fuel. They accomplish that by developing and promoting solutions that optimize resources, investments & operational profits by significantly reducing energy consumption and emissions emitted and increasing the overall efficiency of the system.

Hefring Marine – Iceland
Developing an intelligent and condition-adaptable speed and wave impact guidance system for boats, which is supported by a user-friendly fleet management software with real-time monitoring and detailed trip insights and reports.

Maindeck – Norway
A modern software-as-a-service (SaaS) for the ship maintenance and repair industry, with a specific focus on dry-docking projects. It offers your team a full set of tools that will help you towards a successful dry-docking completion.

Optimiz – Germany
They believe that enhanced claims handling experience and optimized claims handling costs are two faces of the same coin; which is providing lasting value to all involved stakeholders in the claims process.

SPC Biomicrogel – Russia
Developed a microgel made from apple waste that capsulates and separates any oil from water. This works with oil spills, wastewater treatment and any industrial oil or grease cleaning.

SoftRide Technologies – Israel
Safe and cost-effective autonomous driving in geo-fenced areas. The focus is to automate any type of vehicle that drives in geofenced area and does not require to perform complex driving decisions.

About PortXL
PortXL is the World’s 1st Port & Maritime Accelerator. They partner with leading companies, organisations and individuals around the globe, from Antwerp to Singapore to accelerate innovative companies in ports all over the world. PortXL aims to accelerate the growth of start-ups & scale-ups. They accomplish this with an intense mentorship driven program focusing on port related industries.

Updated: February 20, 2020 (Originally published February 12, 2020)

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