More than 60 maritime industry veterans are backing the network called Ocean Founders, which is spearheaded by Greywing co-founders Nick Clarke and Hrishi Olickel.

Ocean Founders, a collective of maritime tech founders has launched to advocate for industry step changes which could reduce friction for innovation and amplify resources for startups facing go-to-market hurdles.

“The maritime value chain is too complex for a single actor to innovate alone. While ecosystem support services are developing around us, the voices of founders on the front lines of innovation are still being overlooked. Launching Ocean Founders is our collective effort to advocate for what’s really needed to bring barriers down so the industry at large can make progress to really innovate,” said Nick Clarke, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Greywing.

Maritime leaders including Greywing Co-Founders Nick Clarke and Hrishi Olickel, Portcast Founder Nidhi Gupta, and Shipskart Co-Founders Dhruv Sawhney have already joined the Ocean Founders, with more in the process of onboarding and an open call for other startup founders to join via ocean-founders.com.

Ocean Founders will spearhead three key initiatives:

1. A platform for maritime startup founders: Ocean Founders will run a mix of closed-door and public dialogues with startup founders, to shed light on hurdles obstructing innovation in the sector. An annual report capturing the state of maritime tech will also be published to give industry decision-makers a candid view of hurdles, progress made and opportunity gaps to leverage on.

2. Support from over 60 maritime corporate executives and government leaders: Ocean Founders will lead dialogues with Motion Venture’s Alliance to give decision-makers across maritime’s private and public sectors a better understanding of founder needs and hurdles. Motion Ventures’ Alliance includes more than 60 leading industry veterans from companies including Wilhelmsen, HHLA, IMC, Signal, MOL and more.

3. Mentorship for future founders: The Ocean Founders will open to emerging or future founders, such as current maritime corporate employees or interested entrepreneurial students. Engaging with the talent pipeline from an early stage is hoped to increase the number of quality founders and operators in the ecosystem, which will improve the industry’s ability to react and respond to rising challenges.

“Ocean Founders gives the maritime industry a major opportunity to hear from the heart of innovation. Startups will have a platform to voice out what’s obstructing innovation while connecting with ready-to-disrupt corporates who want to be clued into the industry’s next frontier,” said Shaun Hon, Founder and General Partner at Motion Ventures.

“I’m excited about the possibility of creating a community of inspirational founders and disruptors to share ideas and find synergies that accelerate the impact of technology in the maritime and logistics industry. That’s what will create true value in the long run,” said Nidhi Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder at Portcast.

“The very core of any community is the shared synergy each entity brings in and that recalls for the quote – ‘if you want to walk fast, walk alone but if you want to walk farther, walk together.’ With this philosophy, I am enthusiastic to contribute as much and look forward to seeing a pivotal impact through innovation and collaboration,” said Dhruv Sawhney, CEO and Co-Founder at Shipskart.