Founded by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore (NUS), PIER71™ (Port Innovation Ecosystem Reimagined at BLOCK71) is a catalyst for innovation in the maritime industry. It aims to grow Singapore’s maritime innovation ecosystem by attracting talents, creating opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and ideas, attracting investments into start-ups and accelerating ventures. It designs and delivers programmes to uncover opportunities within the industry and supports entrepreneurs from ideation to acceleration of their ventures.
Its flagship programme is Smart Port Challenge (SPC), an annual innovation competition to find the best ideas and solutions from technology start-ups to address challenges, or innovation opportunities, put forth by maritime corporates in Singapore.
SPC2023 is now open for applications, you can submit your innovation proposal here. This is your platform to make a breakthrough into the maritime industry! Choose from 12 innovation opportunities, covering Green Technology, Maritime Decarbonization, Smart Port Operations, Smart Ship, Smart Maritime Services and Supply Chain Resilience.
Start-ups can apply to any of these, or in an open category. The closing date is 31 July 2023 (5pm, SGT). Shortlisted start-ups will be enrolled into PIER71™ Accelerate, an 8-week mentor-guided market validation and customer discovery programme.
What’s in it for you? As a shortlisted finalist, you have the privilege of:
- Eligibility to apply for grants (of up to S$100,000) towards prototype development
- Access to Maritime Corporates, Investors, serial entrepreneurs, as well as other PIER71 partners
- Access to specially curated masterclasses and workshops conducted by industry veterans and domain experts
We will be running a series of roadshows throughout July for startups to learn more about the specific challenges from the supporting corporates. The schedule and registration are available here.
PIER71™ looks forward to your innovation proposal that will drive transformation in the maritime industry!