From healthcare to manufacturing, traditional industries have been undergoing digital transformation over the past decade. But some sectors are lagging behind. Maritime shipping, argues Fabian Fusek, CEO and co-founder of Keiko Systems, is “the last frontier of digitization.”
Kaiko Systems A Berlin-based startup trying to digitize operations on commercial ships. about 90% The world’s trade goods are carried over seas, but an industry with such an important role in the global economy still relies heavily on pen, paper and Excel, noted Fusek, a former Deloitte consultant. Manual processes mean maintenance and inspections on ships are expensive, inefficient and prone to human error, he added.
Kaiko Systems, which Fussek founded in 2020 with Eddie Del Valle, former CTO of freight forwarding unicorn Sender, provides a smartphone-based tool for front-line workers and inspectors to collect operational data on ships. Instead, Kaiko’s built-in artificial intelligence can validate data priorities in a timely manner and flag issues for onshore teams. For example, when the system finds a newly implemented part that causes a breakdown in a ship, it can identify all other ships that may be subject to the same vulnerability.
While Fusek declined to share the firm’s financial performance, the CEO said the markup is “very positive” and the startup is “on a strong path to profitability.” To date the company has conducted more than 10,000 inspections for around 250 vessels worldwide. Some of its other esteemed clients include Columbia Ship Management, one of the world’s largest privately owned shipping companies, Marlow Navigation, USC Bernkrug, CTM and The Asian Spirit Steamship Company.
Early traction is what helped the startup close a €2 million seed funding round backed by industry giants. Investors include Columbia Ship Management’s parent company Schoeller Holdings, Vinetta Ventures, A Round Capital, Flagship Founders and industry veteran Klassen Rickmers, managing partner of The Asian Spirit Steamship Company and Justus Knifka, managing director and CEO of the shipping company. .
As for why ocean shipping was late to digitization, Fusek opined that margins in the industry were very thin until recently. Average cost of a standard large container shipping Reaching $10,000 in 2021, but from 2015 to 2020, the number basically trended below $2,000. The founder explained that the increase in spending was due in part to an increase in global consumption, the closure of ports by COVID-19 and disruptions to the supply chain during the outbreak.
“Shipping companies have finally made their long-term investment in digitization,” Fusek said. Apart from having extra cash to spend on increasing productivity, the Covid-induced travel disruptions have made digitization even more urgent as inspectors cannot easily travel from ship to ship in person.
With its new capital infusion, Kaiko Systems plans to grow its team, improve its software solutions and expand into new markets beyond its current footprint in Germany, Greece and East Asia. Fusek believed that scaling across geographies would not be particularly challenging for a high level of standardization of ocean freighters. The company employs ten people worldwide and plans to double its headcount in the coming months.