Flagship Founders and Studio 30 50, the two leading maritime technology venture studios, are combining their future venture-building activities under the Flagship Founders brand.

The aim of this collaboration is to build the next generation of maritime technology companies in Europe and Southeast Asia with an unrivaled international partner network and teams in Berlin and Singapore. This will result in a further expansion of partnership and innovation opportunities for maritime industry players worldwide. ‍

Venture Studios for the digitalisation of shipping

Venture studios build companies from scratch: This includes validating ideas for successful business models, finding the right founders, spinning off the startups and then providing ongoing support through operational and strategic resources, network access and funding.

Founded in Berlin in 2020, Flagship Founders is the only European venture studio focussing exclusively on building technology startups for the maritime industry. The company has since successfully built five companies operating in areas such as emissions management, crew planning and ship inspections. ‍

Studio 30 50 was launched in 2023 as a collaboration of Hafnia, DNV, IMC Ventures, Microsoft and Wilhelmsen. It has since built a portfolio of startups that are aiming to solve some of the most pressing needs of the shipping industry.

While Studio 30 50 has operated with a programme-based approach in which startups are founded in batches, Flagship Founders has had a more individual strategy for founding startups to date. The aim is to combine both methods in the future to get the best of both worlds. ‍

Joint networks and expertise for global impact

As part of combining the two studios’ venture building activities, Shanker Pillai, Director of Studio 30 50, will join the Flagship Founders management team and lead the company together with Fabian Feldhaus and Malte Cherdron. Flagship Founders will operate offices in Berlin and Singapore. Studio 30 50 will continue to offer services to maritime corporates on their innovation and digital business requirements and manage its existing portfolio of companies under the Studio 30 50 business.

“The shipping industry continues to have a great need for innovation,’ said Fabian Feldhaus, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Flagship Founders. “It has always been our ambition as Flagship Founders to decisively drive digitalisation in our industry and deliver real value. We are already doing this in Europe, and Southeast Asia is the next logical step. We are therefore all the more excited: Joining forces with Studio 30 50 is a milestone for Flagship Founders and for the innovative power of shipping.”

Shanker Pillai, Director at Studio 30 50, commented: “Studio 30 50 has always followed an agile venture building methodology which enabled us to launch ventures at scale in multiple geographies. With the expertise of Flagship Founders and their strong venture building track record, the new partnership will focus on building the best maritime tech ventures in our industry by giving them access to our combined networks, funding opportunities and validation partners in some of the key maritime geographies. I am looking forward to working together with Flagship Founders to drive our collective ambitions forward.“