E-Catalogue now available: 53 international startups referenced to highlight innovative solutions
Monaco Smart & Sustainable Marina – Monday 20th septembre 2021
Specialists in sustainable marina development, Monaco Marina Management is organising the first Monaco Smart & Sustainable Marina Rendezvous on Monday 20th September 2021.
A full day of round tables and targeted meetings will bring together a unique ecosystem of startups and industrialists, investors and marina promotors, who rarely have the opportunity to make direct contact with each other. “Given the growth of international yachting, it seemed to us essential to support development of new destinations worldwide with an eco-responsible approach. The essence of this first Monaco Smart & Sustainable Marina is to present and encourage uptake of new solutions and innovative technologies that help protect the environment, the goal being to incorporate them into the building and management of more virtuous marinas,” explains José Marco Casellini, CEO Monaco Marina Management and organiser of the event.
The unique format has attracted support from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the Monaco Government’s digital transformation programme, Extended Monaco, alongside Credit Suisse, which is establishing itself as the bank for yachting, Bombardier, SBM Offshore, Teledyne, NGE Connect and Yacht Club de Monaco which will host the rendezvous.
“Being an active financier that supports the energy transition of the yachting industry has always been very important for Credit Suisse. We do this by promoting activities with the same goal, such as the SMART marina project, and by showing leadership and innovation, as we did with the creation of the SEA Index together with the Yacht Club de Monaco,” comments Michel Buffat, Head Aviation & Yacht Finance.
E-Catalogue puts sportlight on startups committed to a sustainable future
With the aim being to highlight still relatively unknown new solutions, the organisers have published an online catalogue that references 53 startups from 29 countries, selected from the hundred-plus that applied. Among them are those that qualified for funding from the European Commission’s Smart Anything Everywhere initiative, and 17 have already earned the Solar Impulse label.
All were selected through Blumorpho’s international network, a company specialised in innovation focused on new concept emergence and business models promoting a positive environmental and societal impact.
“With more than 110 applications in under two months, this initiative has really grabbed the attention of startups keen to penetrate the closed world of yachting. It shows just how proactive and creative these young companies are. With the aim being to select around 50 for this first edition, we concentrated on startups whose innovative solutions are the most successful, and whose business models appear sustainable and suitable for marinas. Our analysis is that the Smart Marina is a condensed Smart City, intelligent and sustainable,” explains Géraldine A. Gustin, CEO Blumorpho.
Biodiversity, energy optimisation, water management, waste treatment, equipment, security, and health and mobility are the eight themes under which startups are referenced to meet the challenges of virtuous marinas.
Grand Oral: encouraging discussions between startups and industrialists
In the run up to the main event on Monday 20th September 2021, all startups listed in the E-Catalogue have an opportunity to present their solution and innovative technology to a jury drawn from 28 industrialists and investors. At the end of these interviews, a Consensus Meeting on 16th September will short-list 15 companies to go forward to the Monaco Smart & Sustainable Marina Awards, to be presented on 20th September.
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The Grand Jury comprises representatives of companies that are a reference in their field, including Credit Suisse, Bombardier, SBM Offshore, Veolia, Bouygues Construction, Colas, Bosch, Suez, LafargeHolcim, NGE Connect, PureTerra Ventures, BtoV, Circularity Capital, SNGLR and SMEG.
Award winners will have the privilege of presenting their project during Monaco Ocean Week in March 2022, organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
“Marinas are an interface that connects our cities to the marine ecosystem. Their components must therefore meet a large number of challenges: quality of service, personal safety, sound economic management, ease of use, adaptability to environmental constraints… The combination of these challenges makes the environment of yachting and marinas an ideal meeting point for innovators who must design solutions that meet more requirements than elsewhere, comments Héléna Bianchi, Vice-President NGE Connect and Jury member.
