German Blue Economy startup Tilla secures €2 million for its maritime crew logistics platform
Tilla, a Berlin-based Blue Economy startup, today announced the successful closing of a €2 million funding round designed to accelerate the global expansion and innovation of its crew logistics platform.
The round is led by global maritime VC firm Motion Ventures, which recently launched a €86.4 million Blue Economy fund, alongside a strategic investment from EXMAR, a Belgian shipping company with a long-standing reputation under the Saverys family. The new round brings Tilla’s total funding to €4 million since its founding in 2021.
Niklas Weidmann, Co-founder and Managing Director of Tilla, says: “Our ambition is to become the global market leader and ultimately optimise every step of every crew change, everywhere in the world. The funding will help us get there. We’re very proud to have secured two such complementary and renowned investors. Their deep expertise and their global maritime networks are extremely valuable to us. They’ll enable us to scale faster and sustainably, grow our team, strengthen our market position, and expand into new regions.”
Founded in 2021, Tilla set out to optimise and improve the efficiency of crew changes in the shipping industry. According to the company, crewing is still one of the least digitised areas of work in shipping, but accounts for a large proportion of operational costs.
Tilla has developed a platform to drive optimal crew change decisions and automate workflows, with real-time data and integrations. Tilla reportedly lowers crew change costs and improves productivity of crewing teams, covering the complete crew change process, from planning to flight booking and reporting.
Narayan Venkatesh, Co-founder and Managing Director of Tilla, adds: “This funding comes at a pivotal moment for Tilla as we see growing demand for digitised crew logistics. We are a technology startup at heart with a deep understanding of the crew logistics domain. After four years of building and creating value for our customers in Europe, we have a proven approach. Now, with Motion Ventures and EXMAR as partners who understand both the technology and industry landscape, we can accelerate our global value delivery and expand the platform with new AI-powered planning features, comprehensive financial capabilities and much more.”
The capital infusion will enable Tilla to further enhance its platform’s capabilities, enter new international markets including APAC and the Mediterranean, and rapidly scale its global team.
According to Tilla, the involvement of Motion Ventures and EXMAR provides more than just financial support: Their maritime expertise and global networks are a key asset, reinforcing Tilla’s credibility and market position as it aims to become the world’s leading end-to-end platform for crew change management.
Anders Vartdal, Senior Investment Associate at Motion Ventures, says: “Crew logistics is often an untouched cost line in maritime operations. Tilla’s early traction shows the appetite for solutions that can drive both savings and speed with simplicity. What stood out was how fast the team converted pilots into paying customers, that kind of execution speaks volumes. Niklas and Narayan are building for the industry, with the industry.”
As per data provided by Tilla, each year, the shipping industry undertakes approximately ten million crew trips, incurring estimated costs of €10.3 billion. Most processes remain manual and fragmented, relying on calls, emails, and spreadsheets, leading to inefficiencies, errors, and high costs.
Tilla has developed their digital, AI-powered platform to address this problem. The platform integrates all relevant data sources, including voyage schedules, crew details, port agency data, real-time flight information, travel requirements, and more.
It claims to cover all steps of the crew change process, from planning, automated flight management, to invoice management and reporting. By using Tilla, ship managers can reduce crew change costs by up to 24% and save up to 40% in time.
Among its customers are Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG, Essberger, Stödig Shipmanagement, Wilson, EXMAR, and Seatrade. Tilla has already facilitated over 35,000 crew trips, is deployed on over 500 vessels, and serves clients and users operating in ten countries across the globe.
Ariane Saverys, Deputy Chief Operating Officer at EXMAR, comments: “After integrating Tilla’s platform into our own operations, we were impressed by its impact and the team’s expertise. Investing in Tilla reflects our confidence in their future and the value they bring to maritime crew logistics worldwide.”
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