Afore Capital backs product-centric founders at the pre-seed stage exclusively. The investment team brings 16 years of founding product experience (Android and Twitter) and 7 years of institutional investing experience (Founder Collective and Foundation Capital). Their sweet spot is the ~$1M pre-seed round, where they can lead the round as an institutional investor alongside high value angels.

Afore Capital

Initialized Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on the seed. Initialized has 6 investing partners and over $3.2B under management over five core funds since its founding in 2012. The firm's startups have created in aggregate over $200B in market value so far.

Initialized Capital

BoxGroup is an early-stage investment fund that invests in technology companies. The fund aims to invest in the consumer, enterprise, fintech, healthcare, life science, and marketplaces industries at the earliest stage, as early as pre-seed round and as late as Series A. It supports companies based on a conviction in the team and seeks entrepreneurs working at the beginning of movements in existing markets or new markets yet to be created and with visions to create the next generation of category-defining businesses. Their typical investment ranges from $200,000 to $500,000. Adam Rothenberg and David Tisch founded BoxGroup in 2009 in New York, New York.

BoxGroup

Liquid2 Ventures provides technology startups with seed-stage investments and is based in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded in 2015 by Joe Montana, Mike Miller, and Michael Ma.

Liquid 2 Ventures

Founded in 2015, CSC Upshot Ventures is an early-stage venture fund focusing on providing seed capital to technology companies at scale. The firm seeks to invest in companies operating in the enterprise, artificial intelligence, healthcare, Fintech, and the marketplace. In close partnership with AngelList, CSC Upshot Ventures built a new model of venture investing based on the needs of founders, investors, and startup communities.

CSC Upshot

APA Venture Partners is a pre-seed stage venture capital firm. The fund invests in breakthrough technologies in legacy industries

APA Venture Partners

Grand Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Led by partners Tim Streit and McKeel Hagerty, the fund invests in innovative technologies developed by startups located in emerging regions of USA and Canada. Beyond providing capital investments, the Grand Ventures team leverages the talent in their Advisory Board network to help entrepreneurs refine their strategy and focus, promote talent development, and achieve successful exits.

Grand Ventures

Stage 2 Capital is a go-to-market venture capital fund that primarily invests in early-stage B2B software companies. Backed by top go-to-market professionals from leading tech companies, Stage 2 Capital leverages its deep sales expertise to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses in addition to providing capital.

Stage 2 Capital

Terminal49

Terminal49 automates container tracking & risk management. We provide real-time container tracking data via Dashboard and APIs — helping logistics operators automate workflows, save time, and reduce the cost of transportation.

Terminal49 is a leading ocean freight visibility platform that provides real-time tracking and automation for global ocean shipments and containers. Their API integrates with major ocean carriers, terminals across the US, Canada, Southampton, and London Gateway, covering 98% of global ocean freight and container traffic as of January 2023.

Terminal49 Secures $6.5m Series A to Power Ocean Freight Visibility and Automation

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

Shipping Tech

Introducing Terminal49 DataSync: Revolutionizing Container Tracking and Milestone Syncing for Streamlined Operations

Terminal49 is a leading ocean freight visibility platform that provides real-time tracking and automation for global ocean shipments and containers. Their API integrates with major ocean carriers, terminals across the US, Canada, Southampton, and London Gateway, covering 98% of global ocean freight and container traffic as of January 2023.
Terminal49's platform consolidates data from various sources into a centralized, searchable dashboard and push-based API, eliminating the need for manual tracking across multiple websites and spreadsheets. This automation saves customers hundreds of hours each week and thousands of dollars in demurrage and per-diem fees.
The company's technology seamlessly pulls in real-time shipment and container data from shipping lines and terminals, providing instant access to up-to-date container statuses. This enables customers to quickly identify containers at risk and make cost-saving decisions faster.
Terminal49 serves hundreds of customers worldwide, including Wayfair, Hillebrand, and Mazda US. The company raised a USD 6.5 million Series A funding round led by Stage two Capital and Grand Venture Partners in January 2023, bringing their total funding to USD 8.7 million.

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

Terminal49

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