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NUMMER 11 I 21 JUNI
More attention than ever to networking during the second edition of PortXL
Last March, the second edition of PortXL was organised. This time, ten companies participated in the intensive innovation programme for startups in the harbour and offshore sectors.
MIRJAM STREEFKERK
Aſter 22 days, the first contract was signed. A record! In April, Sagar Defence, one of the participating startups, joined forces with the international hydraulic engineering company Van Oord, one of the partners of PortXL. The startups will transform a number of their ships that operate in remote locations into autonomous vessels. “22 days is extremely fast for such a large company to enter into a contract”, Mare Straetmans, director of PortXL exclaimed. “Normally, it will take a company this size at least three weeks to draw up a first draſt of concept contract”.
Thorough selection Like last year, this second edition of Port XL was preceded by a thorough selection procedure. In the first round, nearly one thousand startups from all over the world were evaluated, to find out if they might possibly be interesting participants in the programme. Most of these were found by networking and scouting. Around 70 of them submitted their own applications. “Last year, we only received five”, Straetmans mentioned. Around 150 companies from the longlist were called up for the first round of interviews, and some 75 startups received a second phone call. Twenty of them were invited for the selection days in Rotterdam, where the final selection was made aſter four days. Straetmans: “Important criteria to us were to make sure the start-up process of the products was not in too early a stage, nor too late a one. Furthermore, we looked at the team and decided whether the target market was big enough”.
Mini MBA The programme is now approaching its conclusion. On 22 June, the Shakedown will take place in the Maassilo in Rotterdam, a major event where startups can pitch their product one more time. Not all companies who participated in Port XL succeeded in landing a contract within the programme, which lasted 100 days. Still, that wasn’t their only objective. Companies participating in the programme are put in a pressure cooker. They substantially widen their network, finetune their product, and learn all the ins and outs of conducting a business, finances, and legal aspects during the many workshops. The companies were given two options to pay for their participation – they either took out a loan that they have to pay back aſter 4 years, or they handed over 8 percent of their shares to PortXL. “In fact, PortXL was like a mini MBA to us”, Remko Huigen, of startup
MedAssist.online, explained. His company sells medical apps to assist captains and officers when providing medical assistance on board. “The founder and I already have 25 years of experience in trade & industry, but we are learning every day. For example about pitching, patents, and share options in a BV”. But the most important reason for MedAssist. online to participate in the programme was
the fact that the Rotterdam shipping and offshore world would open up to them. Huigen: “Last year’s experience demonstrated that you can make the acquaintance of around 400 people from various levels in this industry. Which sounded very attractive to us, being a startup”. As a result of the programme,
MedAssist.online has been able to agree upon multiple pilots, for example with Boskalis and Van Oord. In addition, concrete ideas for expansion of the product range have been developed.
Networking opportunities There were many opportunities within the programme to expand one’s network, Straetmans stated. To realise this, a few modifications were made to last year’s programme. “For example, we have brought the company visits forward. As a result, the participants are able to haul in leads from the very beginning of the programme and are able to modify their product, if desired, on the basis of feedback from potential customers”. In addition, Straetmans endeavours to involve people with a lot of practical knowledge in the weekly progress meetings with the startups. “For companies, this is a good way to learn about the programme and for startups an excellent networking opportunity”. Sam Ryan is founder of Parable, a company that thinks up virtual-reality solutions for training purposes. “Many comparable innovation programmes are focussed inward, but we are always out on the road to visit companies. This way, we learn all about their particular challenges and are able to modify our product accordingly”. Parable’s participa- tion in the programme has already been quite successful: Port XL provided them with no less than ten new customers. “I was not very familiar with the offshore sector yet and I have noticed that these companies are very focussed on quality, particularly where training courses regarding safety are concerned. They tend not to choose the cheapest product”.
Oman and Singapore Of the twelve companies who participated in PortXL last year, around fiſty percent are still located in Rotterdam. Straetmans: “Only one or two are experiencing difficulty in finding customers and keeping their heads above water, but by far the majority are doing very well indeed. One party has landed an investment of 150 thousand Euros. Others are gaining new customers all the time”. The success of these companies – and, consequently of PortXL – has not gone unnoticed, internationally as well. People from Greece, Oman and Singapore have been over to learn about the programme and Straetmans has been invited to Korea and Poland to talk about the World Port Accelerator. “I have noticed similar initiatives being developed around the world”, he said. “I get the impression that we have become an international benchmark for parties intend- ing to achieve similar results”.
Shakedown Interested parties are invited to visit PortXL. org to register for the Shakedown on 22 June. Peter Schwartz, director of Salesforce will be holding a keynote. In addition, all participating startups will be presenting themselves. Next to
MedAssist.online and Parable these include: Njord Filtration System, 4Shipping, Green Sea Guard, Sagar Defence, Feo AR, McNetiq, LiquidGold, and RadiantFleet.
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