Wärtsilä accelerates the maritime start-up ecosystem with the National University of Singapore
Wärtsilä collaborates with PIER71 in strengthening the maritime start-up ecosystem. PIER71 is an industry-wide acceleration programme setup by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore, NUS Enterprise, in support of the Sea Transport Industry Transformation Map.
Wärtsilä and PIER71 are testing how Wärtsilä’s Venture model can accelerate solution development and innovation when a corporate, start-up, university and port authority partner together. Wärtsilä’s principal role will be to mentor the start-ups, provide marine industry insights and expertise, and international co-operation, while PIER71 will support Wärtsilä in establishing their networks and relationships with the start-up communities in Singapore. By combining the strength of both worlds ─ speed and agility for start-ups as well as maritime expertise and global reach for corporates ─ new solutions could be implemented much faster.
“We are excited about the opportunity to team up with PIER71 on mentoring maritime start-ups. It is an important milestone for us to work closer with the start-up ecosystem in Singapore in areas supporting our Smart Marine Vision and to strengthen the cross-ecosystem collaboration within the maritime industry,” says Steffen Knodt, Director Digital Ventures at Wärtsilä.
This ecosystem thinking will also extend outside Singapore when Wärtsilä has the opportunity to bring start-ups from its own initiatives in Germany and Finland, as well as bring start-ups from Singapore to Europe. Start-ups will benefit from the bridge into the other ecosystems.
“Singapore is a maritime capital and one of the most globally connected countries in the world. Initiatives such as PIER71 is a great platform to attract home-grown and global technology start-ups to bring new ideas, business models and solutions to solve real industry challenges. We look forward to a vibrant ecosystem that contributes to the sector’s transformation,” says Chris Chung, Director, Digital Innovation & Strategic Projects at Wärtsilä.
The partnership was formalised with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Wärtsilä and the NUS at the Innovfest Unbound in Singapore. This MoU is a natural continuation for Wärtsilä’s active role in building a sustainable maritime ecosystem in Singapore. Earlier this spring Wärtsilä announced partnerships with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to promote maritime technologies as well as with Templar Executives to build a world-class Cyber Academy in Singapore.
Wärtsilä in brief:
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation, total efficiency and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2017, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 4.9 billion with approximately 18,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 80 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
