Innoport, the corporate venture capital arm of the Schulte Group, leads pre-Series A funding round for leading provider of port management software.

Port digitisation expert Innovez One has announced today the successful completion of a pre-Series A funding round. The round was led by Innoport, the corporate venture capital arm of the Schulte Group. The company is also delighted to welcome Haymon Sinapius, Investment Manager at Innoport, to join the board of Innovez One Group.

Founded in 2004, Innovez One is a leading provider of port management solutions for the world’s busiest ports and towage operators, using its AI-powered MarineM software to optimise complex maritime port operations and services.

David Yeo, Innovez One’s founder and CEO, commented: “This funding will accelerate the group’s global expansion ambitions, particularly in EMEA and Asia, and enhance our management and operational capabilities. It also provides the base for the anticipated closure of our current Series A funding round, which will further support the growth of Innovez One. As ports around the world are having to tackle major disruptions in the supply chain, it’s more important than ever that they have powerful tools to progress and optimise some of their most complex and vital operations.”

Haymon Sinapius of Innoport will join Innovez One’s board, bringing his 15 years’ experience in the maritime industry as well as in company building to support the company’s growth, working closely with the team as it finalises its Series A funding round.

Sinapius is convinced of the potential business opportunities for Innovez One:

“Innovez One’s MarineM platform is a great example of how AI and machine learning can be applied to unlock new efficiencies in ports around the world – from shortening turnaround times to making sure operators are paid on time, it’s great to see this technology making a difference. Now, with the potential to bring the Schulte Group’s worldwide network to bear on this process, I’m excited to collaborate in empowering a new generation of smart ports.”

Innovez One’s maritime digital solutions have transformed and supported ports around the world, including Singapore, Tanjung Priok (Indonesia) and Portsmouth (UK), by optimising tug, pilot and launch boat operations in the “last mile” of the journey at sea. Furthermore, the company has recently won contracts to deploy its MarineM solution in Malaysia and in the Indonesian ports of Balikpapan and Belawan. This digitalisation is instrumental in unlocking new efficiencies, reducing waiting times, freeing up berths and improving the management of tug and pilot orders and dispatch.

The transition from the traditional use of manual processes to a digitised system helps address problems such as inefficient scheduling and personnel deployment, inaccurate job entries, delays in service response, and wasteful fuel burn. In ports where the solution has been deployed, the annual mileage of boats involved in towage and pilotage has been cut by up to 20%, leading to savings in fuel consumption and fleet maintenance costs as well as a better utilisation of resources. Wait times for incoming ships have also been significantly reduced.