Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. announced that its Singapore Sub-Headquarters, MOL (Asia Oceania) Pte. Ltd. (MOLAO; Managing Director: Sakura Kuma; Headquarters: Singapore) has decided to participate for the first time as an innovation partner in the PIER71TM (Note 1) Smart Port Challenge 2025 (“SPC”), a maritime innovation accelerator program.
SPC will be held in Singapore for ten weeks starting in September. MOLAO will work to address various issues facing the shipping industry through PIER71 and the incoming cohort of startups, in collaboration with MOL PLUS Co., Ltd. (MOL PLUS; CEO: Takuya Sakamoto, Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo), which will participate for the fifth consecutive year.
As an Innovation Partner, MOLAO will work with PIER71 to offer expertise and business development support to startups, and create opportunities for proof of concept (PoC) trials. It will promote innovation and collaboration with startups by leveraging its network in the Asia-Oceania region and working closely with those on the front lines to address issues facing the shipping industry.
As an Investment Partner, MOL PLUS will work in collaboration with MOLAO to invest in startups and support their business development, driving the growth of the maritime industry. It will further accelerate open innovation in the ocean shipping and logistics domains, which are its fields of focus for investment.
The MOL Group has pursued the regional strategy set out in its management plan “BLUE ACTION 2035,” and strengthened its relationship with the Singaporean government, which included the signing of a comprehensive memorandum of understanding with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) (Note 2). Participation in SPC2025 will further deepen this collaboration and mark an important step in accelerating global open innovation activities based in Singapore.
(Note 1) About PIER71TM Smart Port Challenge
SPC is a core initiative of PIER71 (Port Innovation Ecosystem Reimagined at BLOCK71), a maritime innovation acceleration program based in Singapore. It is jointly founded by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and NUS Enterprise (the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore) and provides startups around the world with opportunities to propose solutions on topics such as logistics efficiency, decarbonization, and port digitization.
In the 2025 program, multiple corporate and institutional partners will join as Innovation and Investment Partners, providing startups with business development guidance, PoC support, and potential opportunities to funding.
Source: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
