Harbor Lab - Experts & Thought Leaders

HarborLab, the Athens-based maritime technology company, has launched a new AI-powered feature designed to optimise Disbursement Account (DA) analysis and streamline port expense management. This latest innovation, known as HL AI, is part of the company’s drive to fully integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its entire platform ecosystem helping shipowners and operators unlock efficiency and major cost savings in daily vessel operations. Advanced digitalisation systems HarborLab, which raised more than $16 million in Series A funding in 2024, restarts to develop solutions HarborLab, which raised more than $16 million in Series A funding in 2024, continues to develop solutions and to expand its presence as more maritime companies look for advanced digitalisation systems to enhance operational efficiencies. With annual port-related spending for ship owners and operators being currently roughly $2 million per year for a single vessel on voyage charter, ship owners that operate a fleet of over 100 vessels, the financial risks of relinquishing DA approvals of up to $200 million annually to third parties or solely managing a traditionally cumbersome process in-house are too high. Latest AI-powered feature HarborLab’s solutions and its latest AI-powered feature are designed to empower their teams with greater control, real-time insights, and technology automation, enabling them to make faster, more confident operational and financial decisions. With the launch of HL AI, DA verification and approval workflows is enhanced by offering the ability to operators to see and understand how each port expense charged in a DA is calculated in greater detail, backed by HarborLab’s algorithmic insights and access to real-time port tariff data. HarborLab’s AI Agent HL AI can instantly translate all tariff documents to eliminate potential language barriers In addition, HL AI can instantly translate all tariff documents to eliminate potential language barriers, making it easier to understand official port information in English. HL AI can also automatically generate AI-powered email responses for expense discrepancies to accelerate negotiations. Moreover, HarborLab’s AI Agent is continuously learning and evolving as users adapt to the platform to ensure the system’s level of accuracy remains at the forefront of the wider HarborLab system. DA review capacity “More than $130 billion is spent globally across the industry every year on port expenses, yet many shipping companies still struggle with a traditionally opaque and time-consuming process of port cost management." "With HL AI we are eliminating inefficiencies and tripling the DA review capacity of industry players, ultimately giving them greater control over their financial operations,” said Antonis Malaxianakis, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of HarborLab. Latest step in the autonomous DA management process HarborLab is steadily growing into a broad end-to-end port call management platform “Crucially, HL AI is the latest step in our goal towards a fully autonomous DA management process by showcasing the power of AI in the world of commercial shipping." "At present, a single HarborLab user can oversee more than 1,000 port calls per year so this latest move will enable our users to be much more efficient when it comes to DA verification and handling,” he added. Operations for the entire maritime ecosystem Beyond port cost optimisation, HarborLab is steadily growing into a comprehensive end-to-end port call management platform. From accurate cost management and instant access to port insights to standardising event reporting for seamless laytime and demurrage calculations, and streamlining payments, claims, and cost validation with effortless scalability, HarborLab is moving closer to becoming the ultimate one-stop platform for port call management — delivering smarter, seamless, and more transparent operations for the entire maritime ecosystem. HarborLab representatives will be present at this year’s Singapore Maritime Week from 24-28 March to showcase the power and benefits of HL AI, alongside its range of award-winning software for principals, vendors and agents.

Harbor Lab, the maritime software company modernising the outdated accounting practices hampering the $14 trillion shipping industry, has raised a $16 million Series A funding round led by European VC Atomico.  With participation from existing investors Notion Capital, Venture Friends, SpeedInvest and The Dock, and new investors Endeavor Catalyst and maritime VC TMV, the round follows a Seed round of €6.1 million. It takes total funding for the Greek startup to some $22.5 million. Atomico Partner Ben Blume will join the board. Shipping industry bottleneck There is a longstanding bottleneck at the heart of the shipping industry: a set of outdated, mostly manual accounting methods that many shipping companies still rely on to grapple with the complex web of costs that arise from their vessel’s port calls - the second largest expense for commercial vessels behind fuel, reaching around $2.2 million per vessel per year. This leads to inefficiency, inflated operational costs, frequent disputes, and payment delays. New environmental legislation and mounting geopolitical crises are further adding to the complications, dangers, and unpredictability of the costs of transporting cargo. Disbursement and husbandry services The “disbursements” incurred at these calls include the fees owed to port authorities for the use of port facilities Over 4 million port calls for cargo loading and discharging are made every year across approximately 4,000 ports worldwide. The 'disbursements' incurred at these calls include the fees owed to port authorities for the use of port facilities, alongside payments to local agents for essential 'husbandry' services for the vessel and crew, such as spare parts and visas. Lack of standardisation and transparency The lack of standardisation and transparency across different ports worldwide makes it difficult for shipping companies to calculate port expenses and predict how much the next voyage will cost. Expenses can vary drastically for the same vessel in the same port, as each 'terminal' and 'berth' within the port has its pricing policy, and disbursements constantly fluctuate, influenced by local politics and economics, changes in currency and exchange rates, and the global economic situation. Invoicing errors and overpayments By streamlining how shipping companies handle these port-related costs, Harbor Lab enables a single individual to oversee disbursements for up to 50 vessels, a significant improvement on the previous ratio of 1 to 6 vessels. Moreover, the platform mitigates invoicing errors and overpayments by cross-referencing port call expenses with real-time official port tariffs from global port authorities, reducing the margin of error from 20% to just 3% per port call. Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification Harbor Lab offers valuable services including KYC verification, enhancing security and compliance Harbor Lab offers valuable services including Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification, enhancing security and compliance in their interaction with local agents. "By demystifying disbursement accounting, we're not just streamlining operations; we're fostering a culture of trust and innovation across the maritime ecosystem," said Harbor Lab Founder, Antonis Malaxianakis. Seamless, transparent, and efficient operations Atomico partner, Ben Blume, stated, "Harbor Lab’s platform gives peace of mind to shipping companies by enabling them to run critical parts of their operations in a more seamless, transparent, and efficient way." He adds, "It is already helping businesses around the world - including shipping giants - Great Eastern Shipping and Oldendorff - and has a significant opportunity to expand globally." Funding and investment Harbor Lab has strategic integrations with fellow maritime innovators - Veson Nautical & 90POE, to provide a seamless, joined-up solution to customers. This funding will support the growth of Harbor Lab’s Athens-based team - currently 70 strong - and investment in new technologies, including artificial intelligence to further enhance its offerings.