Wilhelmsen and Rainmaking Innovation join forces to accelerate and scale maritime ventures

Matching Wilhelmsen’s maritime expertise and product development know-how with Rainmaking’s proven track record in entrepreneurship and venture building, the new partnership aims to spin-out and scale-up existing innovative solutions researched and developed by Wilhelmsen with potential to scale across the industry. Wilhelmsen’s innovative, Digi Boiler is the first project to benefit from this collaboration.
Press release | (Updated )

Kjell André Engen, VP Wilhelmsen Ships Service, says, “We are thrilled to be able to partner with a company like Rainmaking to help us scale solutions we believe have the potential to become new growth ventures in the industry. This partnership will enable us to bring invaluable solutions, such as Digi Boiler to a bigger market in a more scalable way.

Signing an initial agreement, a multidisciplinary team including product specialists and venture builders among others is currently being put together. 

Michael Pomerleau, Partner, Rainmaking Innovation, says, “Together with Rainmaking Innovation, Wilhelmsen is embarking on a new journey that will allow many of their innovative solutions to simultaneously benefit from the best of the corporate world and that of entrepreneurship. Bridging these two worlds is essential for growth and renewal in the industry. The Digi Boiler solution is a great example of how Wilhelmsen is solving an important problem in the industry but where actually the opportunity space related to this is much bigger than the current solution. Ultimately this is about the digitization and optimization of operational processes critical to the global merchant fleet – which is a huge untapped space.

Having built and accelerated more than 750+ tech ventures globally Rainmaking Innovation specializes in venture building, spin-outs and rapid scaling. Working both with start-ups and large corporate clients such as DHL, Facebook, Mastercard and Ikea, it combines the assets and tech solutions from corporate partners, with the unique capabilities from technology and serial entrepreneurs, supported by the in-depth experience of its venture studios.

Minimizing the risks associated with poor boiler water management, Wilhelmsen’s automated boiler water dosing system monitors boiler water condition, dosing chemicals as and when they are needed. Delivering real-time condition monitoring, essential data is accessible to both the vessel’s crew and onshore staff, via a custom-made portal. 

Recently granted an “Approval in Principle” (AIP) by DNV GL, Wilhelmsen are currently working together with DNV GL towards a full type approval for the smart boiler water dosing system. Wilhelmsen also plans to qualify as an approved service supplier (AoSS) as part of the class society’s unique boiler monitoring (BMON) programme.