Maritime Tech Demo Day Hamburg: Innovating shipping’s future

Following the success of the first Maritime Technology Demo Day held in June on the occasion of Posidonia, our collaboration with 9 other leading companies in the maritime venture space culminated in the Maritime Tech Demo Day [Hamburg edition] held on September 3rd at the Digital Hub Logistics.

The event drew 170 representatives of the German and international shipping community who had gathered in Hamburg for the SMM Maritime Industry Fair. Twelve innovative startups took the stage to present their cutting-edge solutions in areas like crewing, digitalisation, supply-chain planning and decarbonisation.

This edition featured panel discussions with industry experts exploring critical topics such as the necessity of innovation for survival, how shipping companies can make innovation profitable, lessons from other sectors, and the role of startups in driving innovation.

The first panel “Innovation in shipping – creating actual value?”, led by Daniel Ng from Cyber Owl, featured Johann Diercks from Peter Döhle, Nils Aden from Harren Group, and Dr. Torsten Barenthin from Oldendorff Carriers.

The discussion revolved around innovation challenges within the maritime sector and how companies can extract real value from new technologies. The panelists pointed out that the shipping industry, particularly traditional sectors like dry bulk, has been slow to adopt new tech. However, there has been progress in recent years, with startups playing a significant role. Yet, these startups often lack a deep understanding of the unique needs of maritime businesses, leading to solutions that may not align with industry realities.

The panel emphasised that fostering a culture of innovation requires collaboration between startups and companies, as well as involving internal teams in the process. They also discussed the importance of “failing smartly,” where failure is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a setback, especially in long-term innovation projects.

The second panel “Working with startups – more pain than gain?” was led by Innoport’s Haymon Sinapius and featured Florian Heinemann of Hapag-Lloyd, Dale Kirkwood from V.Group and Hendrik Kramer from FERNRIDE, delved deeper into the value of innovation. The panelists highlighted that while many startups bring forward ideas, only a small fraction is truly effective. The key to innovation lies in addressing real-world problems within shipping and fostering collaboration between startups and shipping companies to ensure solutions are relevant.

Startups from lomarlabs’ portfolio, Bennu and CargoKite, were among those that pitched at the event, signaling a bright future for innovation in the maritime industry.

Thank you to all involved in making this event a great success: Flagship Founders, The Captain’s Table, TMV, Signal, Lloyd’s Register, CyberOwl, HHLA Next, Innoport, Motion Ventures as well as Big Yellow Fish, Flowfox, Hefring Marine, Heyport, hoopo, passify, SECRO, Sealenic, Signol and Tilla.