France’s CMA CGM has strengthened its commitment to the startup incubator Zebox, initiated by its chairman Rodolphe Saade and partners in 2018. The Marseille-based shipping giant has announced the launch of Zebox Ventures, a seed fund that aims to invest in around 50 startups every year.

The seed fund will cover optimised shipping and logistics, mobility, decarbonization and the energy transition, process digitalization and AI, and the future of work, with an average deal size between €50,000 ($55,000) and €250,000 ($276,000).

Two new hubs have also been announced in Singapore and Manchester, bringing Zebox’s hubs to a total of six by the end of the year.

Going forward, Zebox and Zebox Ventures will be under the umbrella of CMA CGM’s Startup Hub, which will serve as a single point of entry encompassing startup acceleration and incubation.

CMA CGM said the Zebox community, which counts 17 partners and over 130 startups, has helped raise more than $235m in funding and launched over 100 co-innovation processes between startups and corporate partners.

Earlier this year, the French carrier also launched a $218.2m call for projects targeted at startups and businesses working on solutions to step up the pace of decarbonisation within all areas of the French shipping sector. The sum offered comes from its $1.5bn energy transition fund created by Rodolphe Saadé in September 2022 with the aim to accelerate CMA CGM’s energy transition in order to achieve net zero carbon by 2050.

At $25bn, CMA CGM’s profits last year were the highest recorded by any French company in history.

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	Issue 84 of Robban Assafina (March/ April 2023)