Wärtsilä has been ranked first in the 2025 Startup Collaboration Index of maritime corporates published by the Venture Acceleration Alliance, based on the company’s work with external partners to scale new technologies.
The index, covering 50 corporates across the maritime and energy sectors, highlights how maritime companies are engaging with startups to drive decarbonisation and digitalisation in the sector. Shell placed second and DNV third, with Kongsberg and Maersk completing the top five.
Wärtsilä’s position was based on initiatives such as its Sustainable Technology Hub, Next Business Lab and WISE ecosystem. Shell’s GameChanger programme and DNV’s Veracity platform were also singled out as examples of consistent pilot activity and ecosystem engagement.
The research assessed companies against five themes: execution of pilots, ecosystem engagement, strategy, thought leadership and accessibility. The top 10 corporates outperformed the rest of the list across all areas, according to the researchers, though the report noted that many firms continue to lack dedicated resources, long-term planning and integration of startup projects into core operations.
The full Top 50 ranking places Siemens Energy, CMA CGM, MOL, the Port of Rotterdam and ABB in the top 10, while companies such as Lloyd’s Register, Bureau Veritas and Eastern Pacific Shipping feature in the second tier.
The full report is available here.
