TOKYO—MOL PLUS Co., Ltd. (MOL PLUS; CEO: Takuya Sakamoto, Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo) today
announced that it teamed up with MOL (Asia Oceania) Pte. Ltd. (MOLAO; Managing Director: Sakura Kuma;
Headquarters: Singapore) to host the networking event “MOL PLUS Night of Celebration Event -Season 2” (“the
event”) in Singapore on November 5. This marked the event’s second consecutive year, welcoming Deputy Chief
Executive (Industry and Corporate) Chin Yi Zhuan from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (“MPA”) as this
year’s Guest-of-Honor.
The event brought together a diverse range of stakeholders, such as representatives from MOL PLUS, MOLAO,
and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines(“MOL”) Headquarters, as well as maritime start-ups from around the world (including finalists
of the PIER71 Smart Port Challenge 2025(Note 1), for which MOL PLUS is a venture capital partner), corporate
venture capital (CVC), venture capital (VC), and government officials involved in the maritime start-up sector. More
than 150 participants attended the event, an increase of more than 30% over the previous year.
The event was planned and operated by MOL PLUS and MOLAO. It aims to foster business collaboration as a
CVC initiative, promoting open innovation, and bolstering the area’s role as a hub for innovation activities in Asia.
The event brought together a maritime innovation ecosystem comprising maritime start-ups and VC/CVC from
around the world. During the networking event, participants engaged in in-depth discussions on specific areas for
business collaboration and the division of roles and responsibilities, reaffirming the importance of creating
opportunities to gather stakeholders from across the maritime sector. MOL PLUS will continue to take an active,
hands-on approach in contributing to the development of this ecosystem.
MOL PLUS and MOLAO will continue to engage in and support the maritime start-up ecosystem to create new
businesses that PLUS new value to the ocean shipping industry and society by generating synergies between the
innovative ideas and technologies of start-ups and the MOL Group’s resources.