Software solution to cut maritime emissions backed by leading French investors

Climate tech startup Syroco has just closed a Series A funding round, netting €7.5m to continue its work to make global shipping more sustainable. The round, led by impact mainstay Alter Equity and Seventure Partners, will go towards further developing Syroco’s software platform and pushing towards their goal of being onboard 5,000 ships by 2030.

Rough seas ahead for the maritime industry

Maritime transport, particularly global cargo shipping, is responsible for around 3 percent of global carbon emissions, and that figure is likely to grow in the next few decades. The transition needed to head that off this increase is tricky for the industry, with huge upfront costs needed to either build new ships, or retro-fit existing ones, to run on greener fuel.

Regulations set out by the International Maritime Organisation, designed to facilitate progressive reductions in emissions over the next few decades are already putting pressure on operators to find novel ways to reduce their carbon footprints. At the same time, spikes in energy prices in recent years have added another incentive to improve efficiency.

Syroco's proprietary AI software platform designed to help shipping companies by suggesting energy-efficient routes. It does this by taking into account both the particulars of the vessel as well as weather and sea conditions. The company says the platform can reduce fuel consumption – and therefore emissions – by up to 25 percent.

A passion for the oceans

Syroco was launched in 2019 by a group of five founders, led by kiteboarding champion Alex Caizergues.

"I’m passionate about the oceans,” Caizergues tells Impact Loop. “Of course, when you spend 15 years in a sports career, travelling all around the world, at the end of the day you want to have a positive impact on the planet, and especially the ocean."

The group came together in the halls of Paris-based entrepreneur collective the Galion Project. Once they decided to work on decarbonisation of the shipping industry, Syroco was launched in Marseille, a natural choice given it’s the site of one of Europe’s largest ports.

The first challenge they faced after developing their software was convincing captains and operators to use it. The solution itself is fairly simple to implement, with no cumbersome hardware to install. Nonetheless, it took some time to demonstrate to crews that the tool they offered was accurate and trustworthy. The software allows captains to see the projected energy savings of an optimised route in real-time. Caizergues says that once captains had the chance to actually test it out, they saw the benefits immediately. “Usually as soon as they try the solution, they go for a long-term subscription.”

Big ambitions

To date Syroco is working with around a dozen companies and the firm's software is onboard around sixty vessels. According to the company, that translates to over 140,000 tonnes of C02 saved already. It aims to be onboard 5,000 vessels – mostly large cargo and cruise ships – by 2030, which could mean carbon savings well into the tens of millions of tonnes.

"Of course it’s ambitious," says Caizergues about that 2030 goal. "But without ambition you don’t progress."