Building on the success of their first Maritime Accelerator, Connected Places Catapult has partnered again with several sector leaders to run the second iteration of the programme.

They will select up to 10 SMEs to join a four-month bespoke programme which will be designed to address individual business needs and maximise commercial engagement. This will include but is not limited to investment readiness, business modelling, customer profiling and enterprise selling. The SMEs will also receive support from a consortium of industry, academic and regulatory partners and a selected number of them will actively explore trial opportunities with programme partners.

The Maritime Accelerator 2023 will focus on three challenge areas:

Decarbonisation
They are seeking SMEs with solutions that can help support with decarbonisation efforts by:

• Better understanding operational efficiency of future fuels
• Tracking and monitoring of carbon emissions
• Reducing port infrastructure emissions

Future skills
They are seeking SMEs with technology that can:

• Help identify and transfer relevant skills from other sectors into maritime
• Upskill existing staff to create a workforce that is ready for change
• Help reduce demand of physical assets in training

Automation
They are seeking SMEs with solutions that can automate and improve operational efficiencies of:

• Physical assets within ports
• Vessel operations and harbour activities
• Logistics to improve supply chain management