Norwegian start-up Maritime Optima is gearing up for the launch of its digital collaboration tool for maritime businesses, with investment firm Krysse AS, alongside the founders, board members and employees, investing some US$1.6 million to fund the introduction of the new product.
The company, backed by Innovation Norway, has created what it describes as a ‘smart maritime Collaboration Platform’, designed to allow shipping business to share data and information across multiple devices to support improved decision making.
Maritime Optima has hired a team of five developers working on the introduction of the platform, which will expand to six later this year as the firm moves forward with the product roll-out.
“The Norwegian maritime cluster, ranging from sailors, shipping companies, yards, design, finance and insurance is well known world-wide. Our contribution will aid the shipping industry to renew the way we work together. The time is right to implement new tools that better utilise human competence and get people to work in teams,” said founder and CEO Kristin Omholt-Jensen.
“I was surprised to experience that many shipping companies have not grasped the full potential of digital technology to improve their workflow. Many of today’s methods have not evolved much since I worked as a charterer more than 15 years ago. We believe shipping companies will benefit greatly by using more advanced digital tools to more easily share and manage information. Our project is about collaborating and sharing.”
“The idea evolved when my son and I were brainstorming after I had sold i-Sea to Altor and Goldman Sachs in 2017. I reflected on how digital tools had improved many processes in public and private sectors, yet within the maritime industry many things were still reminiscent of how we worked in the 1990s. Having surveyed several major shipping companies, we found common ground and started our work during the summer of 2019.”
