PortXL’s Post

This year’s Grand Finale was a celebration of maritime innovation, with members from the entire ecosystem joining us last Thursday in De Loft in Rotterdam, overlooking the RDM Innovation Dock.   The event was the culmination of an intense 3-month accelerator programme, showcasing the groundbreaking innovations developed by the 10 maritime tech entrepreneurs, who all came back to Rotterdam to present themselves, their innovative ideas, their progress and the collaborations that they were able to start because of the programme.   Akros Energy (part of H2APEX), CarbonBlue, CLCircular, Excess Materials Exchange, Fjuel, HalioGen Power, NAUTI, Omni Wind, SeaO2, and SEADAR - it was great getting to know you and we wish all of you the best of luck in scaling your business and rolling out your technology. It’s people like you that we need to address critical challenges in the maritime sector, a.o. sustainability, digital transformation, energy transition and operational efficiency.   This is also a good moment to thank our valued partners for their involvement, advice and the projects they’ve set-up with our 2024 Cohort: - Damen - Gemeente Rotterdam - GTT (Gaztransport & Technigaz) - MINDbase (Materiel and IT Command) - Port of Rotterdam (lead partner) - Van Oord (lead partner)   Of course, we are also thankful for the support of other likeminded stakeholders in the Dutch maritime cluster. Think of our group of voluntary mentors who provide their knowledge, contacts and guidance, and organisations such as InnovationQuarter, Rotterdam Maritime Capital of Europe, Rotterdam Maritime Services Community, NMT | Netherlands Maritime Technology, KVNR | Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners, and Rotterdam Partners.   All in all, everyone had a good time, and even at this closing event several opportunities cropped up, meaningful connections were made and potential future collaborations were discussed .   The Grand Finale 2024 confirms PortXL's commitment to fostering and accelerating technological advancement in the maritime ecosystem. Hope we can count on you all again for 2025’s programme, for which the first candidates have already knocked on our door!   Thanks to Marc Nolte for taking photos again!   #innovation #startups #scaleups #maritime