Shipping groups Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), IMC Group and Signal Group have committed capital to a S$30m ($22.7m) fund run by Singapore-based venture capital firm Motion Ventures.
The vehicle will focus on early-stage maritime technology developers working on automation and artificial intelligence-powered products. MOL Plus, IMC Ventures and Signal Ventures represented the three corporate investors respectively, each provided undisclosed amounts.
The fund is co-run with startup incubator operator Rainmaking and counts shipowner Wilh Wilhelmsen and logistics group Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA) among the limited partners which contributed to its first close in February this year as anchor investors.
Seeds Capital, a vehicle for the Singaporean Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Enterprise Singapore board, is also an LP. A Motion Ventures spokesperson told TradeWinds the fundraising process is ongoing and open to additional investors.
Motion Ventures is a strategic partner of Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) and Pier71, a joint business development scheme formed between MPA and National University of Singapore’s NUS Enterprise unit.
Shaun Hon, a general partner for Motion Ventures, said: “Introducing MOL Plus, IMC Industrial Group and Signal Ventures into our corporate consortium brings us closer to our goal of accelerating the industry-wide adoption of new technologies.”
