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Today is World Seafarer Day. Check out some of the Israeli tech that is making maritime transport better for all
Without maritime transportation, the global economy would cease to exist. Accounting for 80% of worldwide trade, the maritime transportation industry influences the economic sustainability of each and every country as it provides a safer, more viable method of international commerce. Maritime shipping is the more preferred method, but oceanic travel is an area that is greatly congested with a plethora of serious conflicts. Thus, Israel’s startup ecosystem is using advanced intelligence to secure the knot with innovative technologies working towards solving the issues associated with maritime transportation. Each startup listed below is hyper-focused on a specific maritime transportation issue– creating a culmination of service towards such a widespread struggle.
One of the greatest issues with maritime transportation is the increasing levels of uncertainty and the harmful risks that are associated with these unknown factors. Examples such as law enforcement regulations, financial service requirements, and oil and energy thresholds all need to be matched with specific predictive intelligence measures before ships set sail. Israeli startup Windward provides an all-in-one platform for risk management and maritime domain awareness needs. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, Windward technologies deliver the one actionable predictive intelligence platform specializing in areas such as sanctions screening, due diligence, maritime business expertise, data queries, vetting, ocean freight visibility, and more. The company has also kickstarted a decarbonization program to combat the ecosystem-wide challenge of the exponentially rising CO2 emission levels released by shipping vessels. By bringing together dynamic data and maritime artificial intelligence, Windward’s decarbonization efforts enable shipping stakeholders to validate and audit current reports, benchmark their portfolios, and optimize shipping and chartering decisions.
Windward was founded in 2010 by Ami Daniel (CEO) and Matan Peled (Head of U.S. Business). Daniel and Peled have worked diligently over the past decade to provide fully transparent maritime intelligence based on state-of-the-art data. By “always going the extra mile,” Windward has built solutions that organizations worldwide will need to exceed and excel. So far, the company has raised $32.3 million. With investors from such as Horizon ventures, Aleph, XL Innovate, and La Maison Partners, the company profile has earned a prestigious maritime track record as they contribute to faster, better, and more powerful maritime solutions for the entire maritime supply chain. Located in Tel Aviv, London, and Washington D.C, Windward works worldwide to push the boundaries of data and technology to ensure maritime safety.
When loading cargo onto a vessel, its body is pushed further into the ground adding more weight to its total. This creates uncertainty as to how much a vessel can actually hold, which is a key issue associated with maritime transportation. The trade-off between how full a vessel can get and how safe the vessel can be is a prominent obstacle for transportation operations. Israeli startup DockTech has created a product dubbed AquaScope which uses a digital twin to extract data from the vessel to the cloud, where it offers a real-time status of waterway conditions that interfere with weight requirements. By leveraging artificial intelligence and dynamic data, the AquaScope increases cargo utilization, dredging resource optimization, and increases navigational safety. Implementing DockTech’s solution ensures better resource allocation as it provides visibility through digitization.
DockTech was founded in 2018 by Uri Yoselevich (CEO). With prediction-based activity intelligence placed at the forefront of the company, DockTech has been adopted by affiliation bodies such as Google for Startups, PortXL (Netherlands), theDock (Israel), and ScaleUp (Brazil). The company has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Wilson Sons Investor Relations. DockTech is located in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Ensuring safety in waterways and deep water is essential for maritime transportation commerce. If captains and crews don't have an accurate view of the environment in real-time, life-altering decisions cannot be made. By combining artificial intelligence and data generated from multiple sources, Israeli startup OrcaAI created a powerful awareness system that provides predictions and alerts which help reduce collisions and save lives. ORCA for the ship prevents human error with specializations in risk assessment, smart alarms, and vision in low-visible areas, while ORCA for the fleet provides fleet managers with AI-based insights on risk behaviour and patterns of the entire fleet. ORCA technologies include durable hardware, plug-and-play installation, intuitive user experience, and data plan software updates to ensure safe, viable, and advanced navigation processes.
Founded by Yarden Gross (CEO) and Dor Raviv (CTO) in 2018, OrcaAI has made state-of-the-art improvements to maritime transportation worldwide. The company has raised $15.6 million to date from MizMaa ventures, OCV Partners, Playfair Capital, and theDock. OrcaAI is located in Tel Aviv, Athens, and London.
The future of international trade is seemingly dependent on widespread digitization methods. Without these transitions, the complex menial, manual tasks that have been traditionally required for the industry cannot sustain the advanced maritime transportation ecosystem. This is why AiDock has created six various digital aids that are designed to assist and advance data entry conditions and Harmonized System (HS) code classifications. AiDock Digital Aids combat verification, data entry, classification, before filing, prioritization, and rate and route operations. AiDock systems have also initiated a web platform that functions as a command-and-control center for users to engage with and instruct the virtual workforce for productivity boosts, capacity enhancements, and cost reductions. The platform transfers information to and from Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems and uses it to engage with third-party entry data services.
The “doc to dock” mentality ensured by AiDock has powered the existence of international trade with state-of-the-art advancements. The company was founded in 2018 by Eddie Galantzan (CEO), Tomer Shamir (COO), and Sean Galantzan (CTO). AiDock has received $1.3 million in funding to date. Some prominent AiDock clients include Standard Global Services, Ernst Young, ReleasIt, and United Parcel Services. The company has about 35 employees and is located in Rehovot, Israel.
Most shipping container fleets today are seen as an under-utilized asset. As fleets stick to traditional patterns and functions, they are met with many issues associated with the entire intermodal logistics chain. The transformative change of “going digital,” is something frowned upon in the maritime transportation industry but is something that is also necessary for sustainability and excellence. Luckily, Israeli Startup Loginno has found the solution with their patented AGAM Smart Container Brain and has turned container fleets smart! With a 100% IoT-enabled container fleet, shipping companies can extract real-time data that unlocks and propels numerous marine logistical benefits such as better managed container fleets, commercialized data mining from the containers, and door to visibility security. By adopting Loginno’s AGAM system, shipping companies can save operational costs, increase revenue, lead, and improve customer satisfaction indefinitely, and receive a 10-year service guarantee from the company.
Loginno was founded by Amit Aflalo and Shachar Tal in 2014 who have contributed to revolutionizing the entire intermodal logistics chain. They have so far produced many products, like their SOLAS VGM product that functions as a scale-less measurement device for the container’s weight, their CyberSeaSeal that allows for frictionless border and custom entry, and their GeoSpatial Route Forecast (GRF) that produces geospatial forecasts from standard documents. The company has received funding from the Junction, gBeta, and Mass Challenge and is affiliated with Israeli accelerator theDock. Loginno is located in Re’ut, Israel.
There are extreme complexities in generating quotes and handling customers across the shipping industry. Global trade requires freight forwarders to handle these pricing requirements as they are simultaneously trying to focus on their company’s service and business growth. Israeli startup Wisor combines artificial intelligence and NLP technologies to simplify quote generation with their plug-and-play solutions. Their global automated quoting solutions allow freight forwarders to communicate with clients automatically thus personalizing customer service and experience. Freight forwarders receive a quote request email that is instantly automated by Wisor technology to analyze the data and generate a quote using the customer’s pricing, traffic, and company protocols. The tool prepares a response based on the customer’s chosen template mixed with acquired ground transport information so Wisor can generate a final quote.
Wisor technology minimizes the quoting time to 2 minutes on average and reduces overall costs by 15% as well as saves 30% on administrative factors. The company was founded in 2021 by Dan Pasha Martin (CTO) and Raz Ronen (CEO) with the intent to create a solution to easily store recurring shipment details and financial documentation. Wisor has received funding from SeedIL Ventures, fresh.fund, and the ATOORO Fund and is trusted by ISLine and EMo Trans. The company is located in Tel Aviv.
Paper has been a lingering, prominent issue in global trade. Paper is infamously known as a barrier to business operations as it is expensive and exposes forgery risks. Moreover, international trade activities require businesses to be effective and efficient which poses extreme implications when implementing processes are lengthy. Israeli startup Wave BL has produced a blockchain-based digital courier platform that mirrors the steps of physically printing, signing, attaching, sealing, and sending documents into a one-click, electronic process. This web-based platform provides Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) infrastructure and enables the instant, authenticated transfers of original documents that are critical to trading endeavours.
Wave BL was founded by Gadi Ruschin (CEO), Yair Sappir (CIO), and Or Barbash (CTO) in 2015. So far, the company has raised over $15 million. Wave BL investors include ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, Maersk Growth, Barclays Accelerator, E-Merge, Agilic Capital, Blockchain Capital as well as Marius Nacht– one of Israel’s leading investors. Wave BL has offices in Kefar Sava, Israel and Wilmington, Delaware.
High expenses and timely transports are shippers’ worst enemies. The international transport scene requires each shipper to send a quote in a different format, contributing to long travel hours and absurd financial conditions. Israeli startup CargoSys has developed CASS– their Cost & Analysis Shipping System– to accurately compare all shipping bids and present an accurate platform of total shipment costs. Their easy-to-operate interface is designed to minimize the considerable issues associated with cost and time. Essentially, with the click of a button, any importer and exporter can use CASS technology to receive several price quotations for any international shipping.
CargoSys was founded by Ziv Kruk (CEO) and Ziv Akensfeld (VP Product) in 2018. CargoSys holds a maximizing revenue of $5 million and has prominent customers such as WooCommerce, Mixpanel, tawk.to, and FullStory. The company has 25 employees and has headquarters in Kefar Yona, Israel.
In the past few years, there has been a massive global surge in recreational boating activity, frequent inbound visitors, and coastline tourism. Naturally, coastlines are highly populated and affected by these factors, but now with docking demands at an all-time high, marinas are running out of space and accommodation methods. The immediate solution is to create more marinas but doing so only creates more problems. The berths that are used for mooring methods are the key to solving the host of political and bureaucratic problems that prevent this marina expansion. Israeli startup PickaPier has initiated an optimization plan that mitigates the current berth supply. By establishing a highly connected network of marinas and boaters using boater tracking, marina data sources, AI, and machine learning, Pick a Pier now offers the best utilization remedy for the existing berth supply so marinas can do more with the resources they already have. The optimization system offers 85% reductions in paperwork, 3X greater berth utilization, and 60% reductions in human error.
Brothers Asaf (CPO) and Idan (CEO) Cohen founded PickaPier in 2017 with the mission of making sailing more accessible, enabling boaters to get everywhere, and aiding long-term policy instances and industry-wide standardization from around the world. The company has received funds from theDock and the Israel Innovation Authority in pre-seed and grant funding rounds. The company also has a membership with the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA). PickaPier has offices in Tel Aviv as well as in Amsterdam.
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Geektime, originally established in 2009 as NewsGeek, is a one-stop-shop for all your tech and startup news. Geektime has taken upon itself to promote the Israeli high-tech industry.
Geektime, originally established in 2009 as NewsGeek, is a one-stop-shop for all your tech and startup news. Geektime has taken upon itself to promote the Israeli high-tech industry.
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