Venture Investment in the maritime sector has been increasing slowly over the last decade to the point where there are now some dedicated funds specifically for the maritime industry.

This article is for founders, startup-executives, and other investors to find suitable investors to connect to in order to raise funds for a maritime or marine startup.

The list is in no specific order, and is classified either as being ‘fund verified’, which means that the fund has approved the information, or ‘publically sourced’ which means the information is taken from crunchbase or another public information source.

Additionally, they are classified by Thesis Range – with some Venture Funds being specifically focussed on Maritime Startups and some with a wider thesis of supply chain or an equivalent sector.

Please contact us with requests for inclusion or corrections at d@dhpb.co

Top Maritime Venture Capital Funds

TecPier

Website: https://tecpier.vc/

Location: Germany

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: $100k to $500k

Thesis Range: Maritime

Maritime Startups Funded: Harbor Lab, NautilusLog, Closelink

Validation: Publicly Sourced 

Description: TecPier is a Venture Capital firm focussing on Maritime, logistics and supply chain startups. The majority of their investments are specifically maritime focussed, with a small minority more broadly logistics. Their last investment was in December, 2022 in Harbor Lab – which suggests this firm is currently active. Their usual investments are Seed & Series A stage and they normally do not lead funding rounds, although they did lead NautilusLog’s 2019 fundraise. 

Source: Publicly Sourced

Future Planet Capital’s Blue Ocean Mandate

Website: https://futureplanetcapital.com/

Location: United Kingdom

Fund Size: $21m

Check Size: $100k to $500k

Thesis Range: Maritime & Marine

Maritime Startups Funded: Roslin Technologies

Description: Future Planet Capital is an ‘impact-led’ venture fund which focuses on Climate Change, Education, Health, Sustainable Growth & Security. They now manage a new fund (‘The Blue Ocean Mandate’) which is a €20m ($21m) fund aiming to tackle key issues affecting the planet’s ocean. They aim to invest in 10-15 high growth companies that are profitably tackling key issues. This suggests an initial investment size of between $500k – $1m with scope for further investment. This fund is only one year old, which suggests they have a lot of ‘dry powder’ left. 

Source: Publicly Sourced

Flagship Founders

Website: https://flagshipfounders.de/

Location: Germany

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: $50k to $250k

Thesis Range: Maritime

Maritime Startups Funded: zero44, Kaiko Systems, Tilla 

Description: Flagship Founders is a Venture Capital firm that focuses on startups addressing the digital transformation of the maritime industry. The firm was founded in 2020 and has only invested in four companies in that time, indicating they have a narrow investment criteria. Their investments to date have all been software platforms for the maritime industry. 

Source: Publicly Sourced

Schemic Ventures

Website: https://www.schematicventures.com/

Location: United States

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: $500k to $2.5m

Thesis Range: Supply Chain

Maritime Startups Funded: N/A

Description: Schematic Ventures is an early-stage Venture Capital fund located in San Francisco. The firm is focused on investments in technology companies within supply chain, manufacturing, commerce infrastructure & digital industrial sectors. They have invested in supply chain startups including Flock Freight and Altana AI with involvement in shipping, but no maritime specific startups. 

Source: Publicly Sourced

theDock

Website: https://www.thedockinnovation.com/

Location: Israel

Fund Size: $10m

Check Size: $100k to $500k

Thesis Range: Maritime, Supply Chain, and Offshore

Maritime Startups Funded: Wisor, Harbor Lab, Docktech

Description: theDOCK is a Venture Capital firm investing in and providing industry expertise to startups developing technologies for Maritime, Supply Chain and Offshore. They have numerous maritime investments including a 2023 investment.

Source: Publicly Sourced

The Signal Group Ventures

Website: https://www.thesignalgroup.com/signal-ventures

Location: United Kingdom & Greece

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: N/A

Thesis Range: Maritime, Supply Chain, and Offshore

Maritime Startups Funded: Freightify, Shipergy, Deep Sea

Description: Signal Ventures is a startup studio and Venture Capital arm of Signal Ocean and is based in Greece & the UK. The firm focuses on early-stage technology startups and entrepreneurs in the shipping, logistics and commodities space.

Source: Publicly Sourced

Innoport

Website: https://innoport.vc/

Location: Germany

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: $50k – $150k

Thesis Range: Maritime, Supply Chain, and Offshore

Maritime Startups Funded: Harbor Lab, Portcast

Description: Innoport is a Venture Capital firm focusing on seed investments in the global maritime and logistics sectors. 

Source: Publicly Sourced

TMV

Website: https://tmv.vc/

Location: United States

Fund Size: $11.2M

Check Size: N/A

Thesis Range: Care, Financial Inclusion, Logistics, Future of Work and Sustainability. 

Maritime Startups Funded: Freightify, Nautilus Labs

Description: TMV is a general early-stage Venture Capital firm with an interest in logistics among other sectors. They have made some investments in maritime startups, but have never led a round in a maritime startup. 

Source: Publicly Sourced

Oxidane

Website: https://www.oxidane.vc/

Location: Norway

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: N/A

Thesis Range: Maritime & Marine 

Maritime Startups Funded: Fished, Intoto

Description: Oxidane Venture is an impact investment firm based in Kristiansand, Norway. The firm has regional offices in Copenhagen and London also. The firm seeks to invest in water related technologies.

Source: Publicly Sourced

KSL Maritime Ventures

Website: https://www.kuokgroup.com/

Location: Singapore

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: N/A

Thesis Range: Supply Chain

Maritime Startups Funded: N/A

Description: KSL Maritime Ventures is the Venture Capital arm of Kuok Group. They have been removed from this list due to presumed closure of activity. 

Source: Publicly Sourced

Maersk Growth Fund

Website: https://www.maersk.com/growth/about-us

Location: Denmark

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: N/A

Maritime Startups Funded: Ofload, Forto

Description: c is a corporate venture capital arm of A.P. Moller – Maersk and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The firm prefers to invest in smart logistics, enabled trade, and sustainable supply chain sectors. Founded in 2017, they work closely with Maersk, which was until recently the largest global container shipping line and vessel operator.

Source: Publicly Sourced

Reef Knot

Website: https://reefknotinvestments.com/

Location: Singapore

Fund Size: $50m

Check Size: $50k to $250k

Maritime Startups Funded: Locad, Previse

Description: Reefknot is a Venture Capital Fund investing in high-growth technology-centric startups involved in shaping the supply chain and logistics industry. They have invested in companies across the world, including the US, UK, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore. Their investment thesis is more broad than other funds in this list, including platforms involved in all parts of the supply chain. 

Source: Publicly Sourced

Refashiond

Website: https://www.refashiond.com/

Location: United States

Fund Size: $10m

Check Size: $10k to $50k

Maritime Startups Funded: The Lime Loop, Firstshift

Description: Refashiond is a Venture Capital firm that seeks to invest in early-stage startups related to the supply chain. The firm mainly invests in data, advanced materials, advanced logistics, and advanced manufacturing. They have a high rate of investment and would invest in maritime startups, but have no investments that are purely maritime. They are notable for a strong emphasis of diversity, with an equal number of female and male CEOs at their portfolio companies. 

Source: Publicly Sourced

Ionian Ventures

Website: http://www.ionianventures.com/

Location: United States

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: N/A

Maritime Startups Funded: 3Plex, ShipServ

Description: Ionian Ventures is a private investment group with interests in shipping, oil and gas, and alternative assets. Listed as active but with very small investment activity, 

Source: Publicly Sourced

Ocean 14 Capital

Website: https://www.ocean14capital.com/

Location: United Kingdom

Fund Size: N/A

Check Size: N/A

Maritime Startups Funded: Aion

Description: Ocean 14 Capital is an advisor to a private equity firm which invests in the Blue Economy. Other sources note that they have their own fund. Usually takes a controlling interest when they do invest.

Source: Publicly Sourced