Three new VCs to boost MPA’s maritime tech startup accelerator programme

The new partner VCs are bringing in $30m of potential funding in the programme.

The Maritime of Port Authority (MPA) and the National University of Singapore (NUS), through its entrepreneurial arm NUS Enterprise, has announced the launch of the fifth Smart Port Challenge (SPC) 2021 under Port Innovation Ecosystem Reimagined @ BLOCK71 (PIER71).

Joining PIER71’s network of Venture Capital (VC) partners this year are: IMC Ventures, Motion Ventures and MOL PLUS. Maritime technology start-ups will be able to tap on $30m of potential funding from these individually-managed funds and benefit from the wealth of maritime and entrepreneurial expertise available.

Seventeen innovation opportunities have been co-created with 21 maritime corporates in the areas of Smart Por, Smart Ship, Crew Safety, Training and Wellbeing, Smart Maritime Services and Logistics; and Green Technology for SPC 2021.

Technology start-ups are invited to submit proposals for consideration. Shortlisted start-ups will gain access to PIER71 Accelerate, a six-week market validation and customer discovery programme; PIER71’s global network of partners; mentoring; workshops and masterclasses; the opportunity to win top three cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000 and $3,000 respectively; as well as continued entrepreneurial and technical support beyond SPC. 

Finalists are also eligible to apply for MPA’s MINT-STARTUP grant of up to $50,000 to pilot their projects.

The closing date for submission of proposals is 10 August.

SPC has supported close to 60 start-ups to date through PIER71 Accelerate. Last year, seven startups were awarded with MPA’s start-up grant for prototype development and test-bedding, bringing the total grant funding disbursed to past PIER71 start-ups to about $2m.