Vc News

Saronic, a maritime autonomy company focused on surface vessels, has announced a $55 million Series A funding.The round was led by Caffeinated Capital, with participation from 8VC, U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Point72 Ventures, Silent Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, Ensemble VC, and Cubit Capital.With this raise, Saronic will accelerate research and development while expanding in-house manufacturing capacity for rapid production.The need for these autonomous surface vessels is clear, says Saronic.

Egyptian startup Trella, a digital platform connecting truckers with freight loads, has raised $42 million in equity and debt, including from the venture capital arm of shipping giant Maersk, its chief executive said.Founded three years ago in Cairo, Trella operates in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It is one of several technology firms around the world seeking to upend traditional truck brokerages.Through Trella's online platform, shippers and truckers can directly book freight loads for transport.

The names of the British Royal Navy's five next-generation Type-31 frigates have been announced by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Tony Radakin. Approved by HM The Queen, the vessels will be named HMS Active, HMS Bulldog, HMS Campbeltown, HMS Formidable and HMS Venturer.Grouped together as the Inspiration Class, the names of the new vessels are drawn from former warships and submarines whose missions and history will inspire Royal Navy operations. The names also represent the Royal Navy’s future vision: HMS Active signifies the forward deployment of Royal Navy ships to protect U.K.

There are many Venture Capital funds helping to drive innovation across industry. theDOCK, co-founded by Hannan Carmeli and Nir Gartzman, is unique in that it is working to connect the ports, shipping and logistics industries with primarily Israeli-based start-ups. We recently interviewed Carmeli for insights on the path and pace of the companies under theDOCK’s guise.Hannan Carmeli, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of theDOCK, freely admits that he always wanted to be a ‘Chief Dreamer,’ a dream fulfilled with the creation of theDOCK in early 2017.

Autonomous vessel technology developer Sea Machines Robotics announced Wednesday it has closed a new $15 million financing round with significant participation by America's largest military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).The Boston-based tech company said it expects the investment and associated partnership with HII will accelerate the deployment of self-piloting technologies for unmanned naval boats and ships as the defense shipbuilding and technology giant continues…

Sea Machines Robotics CEO & President.Michael Gordon Johnson is a marine engineer, an accomplished entrepreneur and sector leader with a primary goal of building progressive and sustainable innovation for modern society. He is the founder of Sea Machines, a Boston-based tech company that is a leading provider of autonomous control and intelligent perception systems for marine vessels. Johnson earned a marine engineering degree from Texas A&M University before starting a career focused on complex projects in offshore oil and gas, marine transportation and salvage.

Shipping Container IoT visionary Loginno is adding another strong player, as Flemming Frost, 35-year veteran logistics manager, jumps in to assist in the creation of Contopia (a mesh of "Container" and "Utopia").Loginno is creating Contopia, the world’s Internet-of-Shipping-Containers infrastructure, by partnering with shipping companies to convert entire container fleets to IoT-enabled fleets, mining cargo, and voyage data through a patented low-cost device. This  initiative "The Contopia Factor," or TCF for short, to be revealed June 6th.A well-rounded manager with more than 35 years of business experience from the transport and logistics industry…

Germany’s Schulte Group has launched a venture capital unit - INNOPORT - to identify investment opportunities in the global maritime start-up eco-system.The INNOPORT team, based in Hamburg, Limassol and Singapore, is headed by Yiannis Sykas, Director of Strategy and Product Development at Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM).INNOPORT will support high-potential early-stage maritime and logistics startups predominantly in Europe and Asia, with the flexibility to collaborate with startups from all geographic areas.“At INNOPORT, we want to build bridges and open doors wherever possible. In essence, INNOPORT provides startups with the right network and the right capital…

San Francisco-based freight forwarder Flexport announced a unding injection of $1 billion led by the venture capital (VC) arm of Japanese investment firm SoftBank Group."We’re excited to share how we’re accelerating and further realizing that vision with a $1 billion investment led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, with significant participation from existing investors Founders Fund, DST Global, Cherubic Ventures, Susa Ventures and SF Express. These are partners who, like us, believe in a better, more interconnected world," said a press note from the logistics company.With the $1 billion in additional funding, Flexport aims to facilitate…

While there remains much debate as to what an autonomous future looks like in the maritime sector, one company, Sea Machines, is helping to pace the field with product development, partnerships and investment.Sea Machines Robotics announced today that it had closed a $10 million Series A investment led by Accomplice VC, with participation from several corporate titans including Toyota AI Ventures; Brunswick Corp., through investment partner TechNexus Venture Collaborative; Eniac Ventures…

Sea Machines is bringing autonomous self-driving systems to the world of workboats. At an impressive virtual reality demonstration seen late last year and then again at a frigid, late winter visit to the Boston waterfront, the future of workboat technology became all too evident for this writer. The late George Allen, former head coach of the Washington Redskins football team perhaps said it best when he coined the phrase, “The future is now.” If so, then Michael Johnson, the founder of Sea Machines Robotics has brought that reality to the marine industry. The technology company targets the emerging market of autonomous marine vessels. That’s not some sort of futuristic vision; those capabilities are here, now.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has launched the first Smart Port Challenge 2017 (SPC 2017) welcoming close to 190 registered participants from the technology, start-up and the venture capital (VC) community as part of MPA’s wider effort to develop innovation. The event was officiated by Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Health. Building upon the last two Smart Port Hackathons driven by MPA in 2014 and 2015, SPC 2017 was conceived to encourage further collaboration between organisations and start-ups to push digital transformation in the maritime industry. The six-month…

1861 - USS Penguin, commanded by Cmdr. John L. Livingston, engages blockade-runner Louisa during the Civil War. The blockade-runner hits a sandbar near Cape Fear, N.C., and sinks. 1877 - Prof. Asaph Hall of the U.S. Naval Observatory discovers the first of two satellites of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, using the largest refractor of the time, a USNO 26-inch (66-cm) telescope. 1898 - During the Spanish-American War, USS Cushing (TB 1), USS Gwin (TB 16), and USS McKee (TB 18) captured and burned the Spanish schooner Jover Genard at Carendas, Cuba.

1842 - The Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed. In the treaty, the United States and Great Britain agree to cooperate in suppressing the slave trade. 1867 - One officer and 46 Marines and Seamen from the steamer, USS Wachusett, land at Shanghai, China, to assist in fighting a fire. 1942 - A Japanese force runs through the Allied forces guarding Savo Sound, sinking three American heavy cruisers, USS Quincy (CA 39), USS Vincennes (CA 44), and USS Astoria (CA 34), along with other damaged Allied vessels. As a result of the loss, the sound gains the nickname, Iron Bottom Sound.

1862 - While CSS Arkansas makes her way down the Yazoo River, she encounters the Union gunboats USS Carondelet, USS Tyler, and USS Queen of the West. In the ensuing battle, CSS Arkansas damages the first two vessels and makes her way into the Mississippi River, where she boldly fights through the Federal fleet to find refuge at the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, Miss. 1896 - USS Oregon (BB 3) is commissioned. 1942 - USS Grunion (SS 216) sinks the Japanese submarine chasers (25 and 26) off Kiska, Aleutian Islands.

1812 - The frigate, USS Essex, commanded by Capt. David Porter, captures the merchant brig, Lamprey, in the Atlantic. 1854 - The sloop of war, USS Cyane, bombards San Juan del Norte (Greytown), Nicaragua, in retaliation for ill-treatment of U.S. citizens. Marines and Sailors also seize weapons and powder in retribution for an attack on U.S. Consular officials for U.S. refusal to pay reparation. 1939 - Rear Adm. Richard Byrd is appointed to command the 1939-1941 U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition. Under objectives outlined by President Franklin D.

1833 - The frigate Constitution is the first vessel to enter the newly-built dry dock at the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Mass. for overhaul. A false rumor circulates in Boston in 1830 that the U.S. Navy intends to scrap the ship; young Oliver Wendell Holmes pens his poem "Old Ironsides", becoming a rallying cry to save the ship. 1944 - Torpedo bomber TBM aircraft (VC 69) from USS Bogue (CVE 9) sink Japanese submarine (I 52), 800 miles southwest of Fayal, Azores. 1944 - Navy submarines USS Grouper (SS 214), USS Redfin (SS 272) and USS Tang (SS 306) attack Japanese convoys off the coast of Japan, sinking seven enemy vessels. 1948 - The Berlin airlift Operation Vittles is initiated to offset the Soviet Union's blockade access of the U.S.…

1815 - Commodore Stephen Decatur's squadron engages the Algerian flagship Mashouda near Cape de Gatt, Spain. Though the Algerian frigate maneuvers actively to escape, she surrenders after 20 men, including her commander, are killed. 1833 - The ship of the line, USS Delaware, becomes the first warship to enter a public drydock in the United States when secured at Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Va. 1870 - Under the command of Lt. Willard H. Brownson, six boats from the steam sloop-of-war USS Mohican attack a group of pirates in the Teacapan River, Mexico.

1944 - Sue Sophia Dauser, Superintendent of the Navy's Nurse Corps, is the first woman in the Navy to receive rank of captain. 1945 - TBMs (VC 82) from USS Anzio (CVE 57) sink two Japanese submarines: I 368, 35 miles west of Iwo Jima, and RO 43, 50 miles west-northwest of Iwo Jima. 1945 - USS Finnegan (DE 307) sinks Japanese submarine I 370, 120 miles south of Iwo Jima. 1991 - During Operation Desert Storm, A-6E aircraft of VA-155 from USS Ranger (CVA 61) and Marine aircraft bomb Iraqi troops fleeing Kuwait City to Basra.

1860 - The sloop-of-war Portsmouth, commanded by John Calhoun, captures the slaver brig Falmouth off Porto Praya. 1908 - The Great White Fleet anchors in San Francisco Bay, Calif. The fleet is delayed from its round-the-world cruise after both Rear Adm. Robley D. Evans and Rear Adm. Charles M. Thomas fall ill. On May 15, Rear Adm. Charles S. Sperry assumed command and completes the cruise ending Feb. 22, 1909. 1916 - The first ship-to-shore radio telephone voice conversation was held on board USS New Hampshire (BB 25) off the Virginia Capes.

Singapore-headquartered port operator PSA International Pte Ltd has set up a corporate venture capital arm, PSA unboXed, with an initial fund size of S$20 million ($14.66 million) to invest in startups. PSA said it would seek to invest in companies developing logistics solutions, including robotics and automation in container and cargo handling operations. "Through PSA unboXed, we want to encourage creative ideas that can improve and revamp logistics technology, increase port productivity and enhance the integration, security and performance across the constituents of global supply chain logistics," Group Chief Executive Tan Chong Meng said in a statement. PSA counts itself among the world's largest port groups, with involvement in around 40 terminals in 16 countries.

1775 - Abraham Whipple takes command of Rhode Island's coastal defense ship, Katy, and captures a tender of HMS Rose. In December, Katy is taken into the Continental service and renamed Providence. 1864 - During the Civil War, the side-wheel steamer, USS Lexington, commanded by Lt. George Bache, and a boat crew from the side-wheel steamer, USS Tyler, capture three steamers aiding Confederates off Beulah Landing, Miss. 1944 - Following intensive naval gunfire and carrier-based aircraft bombing…

SC Ports Authority recently handled one of its heaviest energy project moves to date, a 1.5 million pound Westinghouse Electric Company steam generator for the South Carolina Electric & Gas Company nuclear power plant expansion near Columbia, SC. The generator was off-loaded from the BBC AQUAMARINE directly onto a Schnabel car, a specialty railcar designed to transport heavy and oversized loads. The 36-axle railcar, among the largest of its type in the world, transported the equipment from Charleston to the V.C. Summer site in Jenkinsville, SC where two Westinghouse AP1000� nuclear power plants are under construction. "Today’s activities demonstrate the high…