Are ports the next industry startups can shake up? PSA Unboxed thinks so

Photo credit: delcreations / 123RF.

Given that startups often face stormy waters and unpredictable weather, it’s a wonder they haven’t yet dealt more with maritime and shipping – which faces these conditions literally as well as figuratively.

That’s what port operator PSA International is trying to encourage with PSA Unboxed – its venture capital arm. PSA Unboxed runs an incubation program for startups that want to tackle challenges in PSA’s wheelhouse. It launched last May with an initial fund size of US$14 million.

PSA, having spun out of Singapore’s port authority, is one of the world’s largest port operators. The company now operates 40 terminals in 16 countries in Europe, Asia, and South America. It is responsible for 10 percent of global container processing.

New ports of call

A lot of startup verticals that have deep industry connections usually involve people who jumped ship to start their own company or join a leaner organization. With fintech, for example, you get startups by a lot of ex-bankers or traders. There isn’t currently such a notable migration for shipping and port management.

It’s not a sexy industry but it’s an industry with a lot of areas to work in.

“It’s not a sexy industry,” PSA Unboxed team lead Elton Fong tells Tech in Asia. “It’s not quite there in terms of attracting people’s attention. But it’s an industry with a lot of areas to work in.”

The cargo freight process hasn’t changed for decades, he explains. Ports nowadays have increasingly modern equipment – PSA uses automated crane systems and has a research and development unit that looks into tech like automated vehicles and augmented reality applications. But the industry still uses the same old containers. The jobs of stevedores – the industry term for dock workers who help load and unload cargo – have been largely unchanged for all these years and are very hard to automate.

As we take a tour on the dock behind Singapore’s Terminal 3 building, navigating through canyons made out of containers and passing under colossal cranes picking up crates from gargantuan ships, the potential ways startups can help are visible far and wide.

Automated systems could help load and unload cargo onto ships faster; connected sensors could monitor conditions on the dock to ensure safety and more efficient traffic; self-driving vehicles could lug containers around. Potential solutions include software to help process ship traffic more efficiently, or blockchain applications to improve shipping documentation. Robotic systems could gather environmental data from the sea and air. The list goes on.

So PSA Unboxed is on the lookout for startups that can help bring some of their out-of-left-field thinking on board. Areas of interest include autonomy and robotics, smart connected systems, health and safety management, integrated and connected port operation systems, and more.

The company’s thinking is to find startups that could come up with useful ideas that PSA can apply to its business or partner with. “The first part we consider is how relevant [a startup] is to us,” Elton says. “Can we find a place for it, can we be its customer? Could it be the next big business we want to be in?”

Photo credit: vichie81 / 123RF.

High seas