Plug and Play’s Savannah Selection Day Event Signals Opportunity To Come
Savannah is quickly becoming known as a hub for supply chain and logistics innovation. On June 28th, 2022, Plug and Play hosted their Savannah Selection Day event at the JA Colonial Group Discovery Center within Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus. Plug and Play is a global innovation platform founded in 2006 that works to connect early-stage investors, startups, and established companies. Partners of Plug and Play’s Selection Day event included: Georgia Ports Authority, Georgia Power, Foram Group, Savannah Economic Development Authority, Georgia Southern University, and Savannah State University.
Photo: Tyler Edic for Plug and Play. Kara Harris, Director of Business Development from CargoMatic, pitches at Selection Day.
The primary goal of the event was to kick off Plug and Play’s three-month-long accelerator program for startups focused on innovation around supply chains and logistics. Twenty startups from all over the world were present to showcase their companies and compete for a spot in the accelerator program. Participating companies hailed from the United States, Sweden, Finland, Mexico, and Chile. Each startup took the stage in front of a live audience to give a 3-minute pitch detailing their products and services. Specifically, participant pitches focused on global solutions for the maritime, trucking, rail, warehousing and storage industries.
The pitch sessions were divided into four main categories: Freight, Warehouse Automation, Supply Chain Optimization, and Workforce Management. Startups in the Freight category included Einride, Repowr, Dray Alliance, Tive, Qualle, PortPro, and Cargomatic. The Warehouse Automation portion of the event featured pitches from Datch, Loko, Sun Vessel, and Slip Robotics before a short break. Following soon after was the Supply Chain Optimization category which featured the startups Chunker, Omnix, Porter Logic, Awake.ai, Porth, Splice, and Oko Trade. Pitch sessions completed with presentations from Veryable, Casi, and Really Virtual Corporation. For the remainder of the event, startups continued on to participate in additional networking opportunities and deal flow sessions.
Photo: Tyler Edic for Plug and Play. Sebastian Gomez Puerto, CEO of SunVessel, pitches at Selection Day.
Currently, the Plug and Play partners are in the process of deciding which startups will participate in the accelerator program. Selected companies will receive mentorship from Plug and Play dedicated mentors, exclusive networking opportunities, and access to Plug and Play’s extensive resources. The companies will have the opportunity to relocate to Savannah for the duration of the program and take advantage of Savannah’s location as a major port city or participate remotely. At the end of the three months, the graduating companies will participate in an Expo Day during which they will showcase their respective progress over the course of the program.
For more information on Plug and Play and to get connected to the Plug and Play platform, visit www.pnptc.com.
