Alpine Meridian is a NYC-based early stage venture firm focused on the Internet, digital media, fintech, data, software, and e-commerce.

Alpine Meridian

GE Ventures combines capital, technical, and commercial services. They invest in the healthcare and life sciences, energy and mobility, manufacturing and supply chain, enterprise productivity applications, digital infrastructure, and frontier technologies sectors.

GE Ventures

As part of the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, GS Growth is the firm’s investment platform dedicated to providing preferred equity and mezzanine capital to high-growth companies. As of June 2019, Goldman Sachs' investing groups (Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, Principal Strategic Investments, and Private Capital Investing) have combined to form the GS Growth team. The team targets investments of $20-250 million.

GS Growth

New York Angels is one of the largest and most active angel investment organizations.  Founded in 2004 as the successor organization to the NYNMA (New York New Media Association) Angel Investor Program, New York Angels is a membership organization of over 110 active angel investors and early stage venture capital funds. The group meets monthly to screen and present early stage technology companies, and its members have invested over $100 million since 2002 into over 90 ventures. In April of 2017, PItchbook identified New York Angels as #3 in their list of the 8 top VCs funding seed rounds of New York-based companies.  Among the NYA membership are nationally known angel investors including Esther Dyson and David S. Rose. The group has one full-time staff, reporting to an 11 person Board of Directors chaired by Brian S. Cohen. Dr. Elizabeth Lindsey is currently Program Director of New York Angels. Since 2012, the membership has increased by 66% and investment activity has grown by over 215%.   New York Angels concentrates on early stage investments in the range of $100,000 - $1,000,000, although it has led deals as large as $2 million. It receives over 2,200 financing applications annually, from which it selects 12-16 companies each month for an in-person screening, where all members of New York Angels are invited to attend. The group meets again for an Investment Breakfast at the end of the month, where 2-4 opportunities present to the membership with a goal to close their current investment round within two months. The group is considered a leader in the growing field of organized angel investing. It was the first member of the national Angel Capital Association, hosted the ACA Summit conference in 2006, and was the initial test group for the now-standard gust (Angelsoft) funding platform.  Membership as an investor in New York Angels is by invitation only, and members are required to commit to investing at least $50,000 annually in early stage technology deals, in addition to the group's $3,500 annual membership dues.  Requests for funding for entrepreneurial ventures may be self-submitted through the group's website. New York Angels charges no fees to entrepreneurs.

New York Angels

Blumberg Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with visionary entrepreneurs to build successful technology companies that empower individuals, businesses and society through the innovative use of AI, big data and other transformative technologies. We are passionate about nurturing B2B technology companies from Seed stage through their growth journey, as active board members and hands-on advisors. We were among the first investors in industry leaders including Addepar, Braze, Credorax, DoubleVerify, Fundbox, HootSuite, Katapult, Nutanix, Trulioo and Yotpo. Find us in San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Miami and New York or at blumbergcapital.com.

Blumberg Capital

Founded in 2000, Industry Ventures is an investment firm that focuses on making venture capital investments. The firm makes investments through secondary opportunities, primary fund investments and direct co-investments in venture-backed companies. The firm has $3.5B in AUM and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Industry Ventures

Tectonic Capital partner with outstanding entrepreneurs and invest in category defining businesses

Tectonic Capital

Tecton Capital Partners LLC designs, builds and manages specialized investment platforms on behalf of significant investors.

Tecton Capital Partners LLC

The mission of On Grid Ventures LLC is to support the startup and success of GeoDisruptive businesses which leverage GeoLocation as a disruptive force in marketplaces and commerce, digital infrastructure, or information flow.  On Grid Ventures is focused on the global adoption of location-based technologies as a game changer across five investment areas.   1 GeoMarketplaces focused on a well-defined audience of buyers and sellers where location-based technology enables commerce spanning online and offline, such as Uber, AutoTrader, or Cups.  2 GeoMarketing  businesses where customer acquisition and retention is dependent on location, such as Yelp, OpenTable or AllTheRooms, both business-to-consumer and business-to-business  3 GeoSocial networks based around location and often other factors like interests, such as Foursquare or Tinder.  4 GeoInfrastructure businesses which facilitate the growth and maturation of location-based businesses, such as Yext, PlaceIQ, xAd, Gimbal, and SocialSign.in.  5 GeoInformation businesses which aggregate and assimilate content and data for a defined geographic area in innovative ways, such as Yelp and EnerKnol.

On Grid Ventures

Collate Capital is a New York-based technology focused investment firm. We support the most promising early stage businesses with introductions to strategic advisors and financial support.

Collate Capital

NewRoad Capital Partners is a growth equity capital firm based in Rogers, AR, that invests in proven and innovative technologies, products, and services that serve existing, unmet needs in the marketplace. NewRoad focuses on investing in and acquiring demand-driven businesses in the Retail and CPG and Business Services industries with an emphasis on Supply Chain and Logistics, Consumer Goods, Outdoor Goods, Healthcare Technology, Media and Retail Technology. It was founded in 2013 and headquartered in Rogers, Arkansas.

NewRoad Capital Partners

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services, as well as financial services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory services, including advisory assignments concerning mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, and restructurings and spin-offs; and underwriting services comprising public offerings and private placements of a range of securities, loans, and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company’s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution services, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as executes and clears institutional client transactions on stock, options, and futures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment originates longer-term loans; and invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, distressed assets, currencies, commodities, and power generation facilities. The company’s investment management segment provides investment products and services, as well as offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services.

Goldman Sachs

Intercontinental Exchange is an operator of regulated exchanges and clearing houses serving the risk management needs of global markets for agricultural, credit, currency, emissions, energy and equity index products. It operates marketplaces for trading and clearing a range of securities and derivatives contracts across various asset classes, including interest rates, equities, equity derivatives, credit derivatives, bonds, currency, and commodities.  The company is known for providing trade processing, trade execution, listing services, clearing, post-trade processing, and market data services.  It is engaged in operating seventeen regulated exchanges and marketplaces, consisting of ICE futures exchanges, NYSE Liffe futures exchanges, New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE MKT, the Euronext group of stock exchanges, 2 U.S. equity options exchanges, and the Singapore Mercantile Exchange.  Intercontinental Exchange provides its services for financial institutions, corporations, manufacturers, utilities, commodity producers and refiners, institutional and individual investors, and governmental institutions.  Intercontinental Exchange was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Intercontinental Exchange

New York Shipping Exchange

New York Shipping Exchange is a platform that unites shippers, carriers, and forwarders and revolutionizes the logistics industry. New York Shipping Exchange enables the transformation of the container shipping industry through two innovations: a new standardized freight contract and a new way to trade freight digitally. The company is supporting the transformation of container shipping by solving inefficiencies associated with booking downfalls and shipment rolling. They are determined to eliminate the distrust between shippers and carriers that has been created by the lack of accountability in ocean contracts. It was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, United States.

NYSHEX (New York Shipping Exchange) is a technology company founded in 2014 that provides an integrated platform to improve contract performance and reliability in the ocean freight shipping industry. The company offers a digital infrastructure that serves as a shared system of record for shippers, carriers, and non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs). NYSHEX's platform harmonizes contract and performance data, providing real-time visibility into ocean freight contracts and enabling users to monitor performance, receive automated alerts on booking patterns, and adapt to changing market dynamics.

Investment Portfolio Companies - NYSHEX

NYSHEX Closes $25 Million Series B to Improve the Reliability and Efficiency of Global Shipping

Nyshex lands $25M to match shippers with ocean carriers

NYSHEX Announces 2019 Board of Directors

NYSHEX Closes $25M Series B to Improve the Reliability and Efficiency of Global Shipping

NYSHEX Records 340% Revenue Growth and Triples Shipping Volume

Crocs, Inc. Vice President of Global Distribution & Logistics joins the NYSHEX Board

The NYSHEX Story with Gordon Downes

Terms of Use

A Quick Guide to the NYSHEX Forward Contract

Nyshex Secures $25M to Scale Digital Freight Tech

MSC Digitalizes Shipping Contract Performance with NYSHEX

NYSHEX Closes $25M in Series B Funding

NYSHEX Raises $25M to be the Single Source of Truth for the Ocean Freight Industry – AlleyWatch

Using autonomous, green, IoT, and digital technologies to shape the future of ocean-based transportation

Shipping Tech

NYSHEX (New York Shipping Exchange) is a technology company founded in 2014 that provides an integrated platform to improve contract performance and reliability in the ocean freight shipping industry. The company offers a digital infrastructure that serves as a shared system of record for shippers, carriers, and non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs). NYSHEX's platform harmonizes contract and performance data, providing real-time visibility into ocean freight contracts and enabling users to monitor performance, receive automated alerts on booking patterns, and adapt to changing market dynamics.
The company's core product, the NYSHEX Forward Contract, is a standardized, enforceable agreement that locks in rates for specific weeks up to six months in advance, including all mandatory charges. This contract is designed to work alongside existing long-term and spot market contracts, offering space and equipment guarantees with fixed rates. NYSHEX's technology monitors contract compliance, and if a party fails to honor their commitment, the exchange collects and distributes liquidated damages.
In March 2022, NYSHEX reported a 340% revenue growth for 2021, with shipping volumes more than tripling. The company handled USD 1 billion in gross freight volume in 2021 and anticipated increasing that to USD 4 billion by the end of 2022. As of September 2022, NYSHEX's platform was being used by over 190 BCOs, 130 NVOs, and seven carriers globally, including major companies such as PVH, Serena & Lily, and Staples. In June 2024, MSC, the world's largest fleet operator, announced an agreement to use NYSHEX's platform for digitalizing the performance monitoring of its ocean freight contracts.

Groke Technologies is a Finnish company established in October 2019 with the aim of becoming a leading provider of situational awareness systems and autonomous navigation solutions for the maritime industry. Its flagship product, Groke Pro, is a comprehensive situational awareness system that integrates data from various sources such as cameras, GPS, radar, and AIS messages. The system uses machine vision and machine learning to detect and classify vessels, even those without AIS, in both day and night conditions. Groke Pro's unique blending feature combines images from day and thermal imaging cameras, providing a clear view of the vessel's surroundings even in low-visibility situations.
The system continuously records, collects, and annotates data, enabling the machine learning models to enhance its capabilities for detecting objects of interest in challenging environments with increasing accuracy. Groke Pro offers tools such as risk analysis, intuitive risk compass, closest point of approach alarms, and relative velocity tracking to support decision-making. In March 2024, Groke Technologies partnered with BAR Technologies to develop situational awareness systems for BAR's WindWings wind propulsion technology, installed on the Pyxis Ocean bulk carrier.

Groke Technologies

Sea Machines Robotics is a pioneering company that develops autonomous command and control systems, as well as advanced perception technology for the maritime industry. Their flagship product, the SM300 Autonomous Command and Control System, enables vessels to seamlessly transition between unmanned autonomous mode and human manual navigation. It employs cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, computer vision, and sensor fusion to facilitate precise control over vessel position, steering, speed, route planning, obstacle avoidance, and data collection during voyages.
In April 2024, Sea Machines unveiled SELKIE, an unmanned surface vessel (USV) designed for various applications such as hydrographic surveys, offshore asset inspections, environmental studies, and security missions. The SELKIE 7, a 7-meter HDPE hull vessel powered by the SM300 system, boasts impressive range and endurance capabilities, with a capacity of up to 500 nautical miles and 15 days of operation. Its robust autonomous functions, intuitive user interface, and survey-ready features, including sonar mounts and payload deployment capabilities, make it a versatile and efficient solution for marine operations.
Sea Machines' technology has demonstrated its potential in groundbreaking achievements. In October 2021, the autonomous tug Nellie Bly, equipped with the SM300 system, successfully completed the world's first 1,000-plus-nautical-mile autonomous and remotely commanded voyage of a commercial vessel at sea, covering 96.9% of the journey in fully autonomous mode.
The company's innovations have garnered significant interest and investments. In February 2024, Sea Machines secured a USD 12 million funding round led by Emerald Technology Ventures and other prominent investors, enabling further technological advancements and market expansion. Additionally, Sea Machines has collaborated with the US Coast Guard (USCG) to evaluate and refine its computer vision technology for maritime domain awareness, collision avoidance, and target detection on USCG vessels.

Sea Machines Robotics

Orca AI is an Israeli startup that offers an AI-powered, real-time navigation safety platform for the maritime industry. The company's technology combines computer vision, deep learning, and existing onboard sensors to enhance situational awareness for crews, reduce sensory overload, and enable better navigation decisions. Orca AI's system processes visual information during navigation, mimicking and enhancing human watchkeeping capabilities. By detecting and alerting crews to high-risk marine targets, the platform optimizes operations to avoid unnecessary maneuvers and speed drops, leading to reduced fuel consumption and emissions.
In 2023, Orca AI's technology resulted in an average fuel cost reduction of USD 100,000 to USD 300,000 per vessel per year (3-5% improvement) and a significant CO2 reduction of 172,716 tons. The system has been installed on hundreds of merchant ships, including vessels from major companies like MSC, Seaspan, Maran Tankers, TMS Cardiff Gas, ENESEL, and Latsco.
In February 2022, Orca AI achieved a historic milestone by powering the world's first autonomous commercial voyage in congested waters in partnership with NYK and the Nippon Foundation. The autonomous vessel completed a 40-hour journey, performing 107 maneuvers to avoid colliding with 400-500 vessels while operating autonomously 98% of the time.
Key customers and partnerships
Orca AI works with global shipping companies, including MSC, NYK, Maersk, and Seaspan, among others. The company has also entered into partnerships with industry leaders like NYK in Japan to develop automated watchkeeping capabilities, potentially reducing the manning of ship bridges under specific conditions.
In 2023, Orca AI announced a partnership with Marubeni Corporation for sales of its AI-powered situational awareness platform, particularly in Southeast Asia and Japan.

Orca AI

Buffalo Automation is a pioneering company that has developed cutting-edge technologies for the maritime industry. Their flagship product, Automate, is a predictive boat navigation system that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI), neural networks, and thermal imaging to detect obstructions and safety hazards, providing critical warnings and assistance to safely navigate around them. Automate has already been adopted by multiple commercial ships operating on the US Great Lakes.
The company has also developed Pegasus, a comprehensive navigation and safety system designed for smaller recreational boats. While compatible with today's gas-powered engines, Pegasus technology has been adapted to create Greycraft, an innovative product line that combines electrification, renewable energy, and modular design.
Greycraft is the world's first solar-powered, autonomous vessel capable of carrying passengers and traversing busy waterways. Its modular design allows for easy transportation and assembly, eliminating the need for trailers. Greycraft's vessels are designed to operate on the water for several years without maintenance, powered primarily by solar panels with battery backup.
In December 2020, Buffalo Automation successfully demonstrated the Greycraft concept in Knoxville, Tennessee, with plans for a fully operational launch of the Greycraft Water Taxi service in early 2021, initially offered free of charge to residents.

Buffalo Automation

Ladar Limited is a maritime technology company that designs, develops, and deploys laser and computer vision-based solutions for the maritime and offshore industry. The company's flagship product is the Ladar Sensor Suite, a smart system that enables real-time, highly accurate surveillance of the ocean surface layer and water column. This system utilizes sensor-based data and artificial intelligence to fuse data aggregation systems into a comprehensive decision support system, available 24/7. The Ladar Sensor Suite prioritizes the safety of crew, passengers, vessels, and cargo by presenting a visual consolidation of feeds for swift decision-making.
One of Ladar's key innovations is the PlasticDetect system, which offers an end-to-end solution for real-time detection, classification, and tracking of marine plastic pollution. This system comprises a unique multispectral, internally developed and patented laser-based maritime lidar sensor (Ladar Sensor Suite), visual and thermal sensors, and computer vision with AI and machine learning. It is complemented by a web portal data service.
Ladar's technology aims to transform the global maritime transport industry through the adoption of automated ship collision avoidance and (semi-) submerged target detection technologies. The company's solutions address the industry's needs for increased ship safety and collision avoidance, as well as the demands of the emerging unmanned and autonomous vessel technologies market. Ladar's systems are designed to meet regulatory compliance standards, protect the environment, and explore the digitalized and automated future of maritime operations.

Ladar Ltd

Software solutions that streamline the transportation process, including ocean-based shipping, from booking and tracking shipments to managing customs compliance and invoicing.

Technologies that improve the efficiency and productivity of ports and terminals, such as automated container handling systems, real-time monitoring of cargo and vessel movements, predictive maintenance systems, and port automation systems.

Developers of technologies for ships that can decrease carbon footprint, reduce energy consumption, and increase efficiency (this excludes autonomous and remotely operated ships).

Unmanned (either autonomous or remotely-operated) vessels that use AI and ML to navigate and perform various tasks, including cargo and passenger transport. Technology also includes systems that assist navigation by providing technologies such as collision avoidance and advanced perception.

Data analytics, sensors, and IoT devices that collect data on cargo, vessel, and environmental conditions to optimize shipping routes, reduce fuel consumption, and improve safety. These software solutions may use data analytics and predictive modeling to optimize shipping operations.

Data analytics and sensor technologies and automated solutions broadly falls under Industry 4.0

Data analytics and sensor technologies segment uses IoT

Green ships promote sustainable operations

Smart ports improve the efficiency and productivity of ports and terminals, facilitating smart cities

Autonomous ships sometimes use robotic solutions

Some companies use AI/ML tech for autonomous navigation

New York Shipping Exchange

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