• The second prize goes to the proposal of “Velero Meu”.
• In the event, solutions were sought for 3 challenges, posed by ROMEU, Naturgy and Autoridad Portuaria de València.
• The first prize, an economic endowment of 3,000 euros, has been awarded by the Juan Arizo Serrulla Foundation (FJAS), and the second prize with another endowment of 1,000 euros, has been provided by the Propeller Valencia Association.

Valencia 3 June 2023. – The final defense of the projects developed during the III Valenciaport Hackathon, an event organized by Opentop, Valenciaport’s innovation hub, was held yesterday, Sunday, July 2.

At the event, the 12 teams that participated in the hackathon during the weekend, presented their proposals to a professional jury and the public present. After the jury’s deliberation, the winners were announced.

The main prize had an economic endowment of 3,000 €, granted by the Juan Arizo Serrulla Foundation (FJAS), and was awarded to the project “Seanergy”, the solution that one of the teams presented to the challenge proposed by the Port Authority of Valencia.

Seanergy has presented a solution with which photovoltaic triangles can surround the Port of Valencia, generating renewable energy that would contribute to the energy self-sufficiency of port operations.

This solution is based on the generation of energy thanks to floating structures with photovoltaic panels interconnected with each other in the spaces adjacent to the Port of Valencia, which are designed in a triangular shape so that the whole set is better adapted to the waves and also has a hydraulic system to be oriented towards the sun always looking for the maximum incidence of the same.

The second prize, with an endowment of €1,000 provided by the Association of logistics managers and entrepreneurs Propeller Valencia, was awarded to the project “Velero Meu”, a solution to the challenge posed by ROMEU.

Velero Meu has defended a solution to improve the sales of container spaces through artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The solution to the challenge designed is an API (Application Programming Interfaces) oriented to the improvement of the commercial strategy that tries to create a match between its non-optimized containers and its customers, automating the last minute strategy with a combination of technologies based on a Blockchain network, Big Data, Deep Learning for decision making, and the implementation of a virtual robot with robotic process automation (RPA).

In this third edition, the following challenges have been addressed: container optimization and last minute price (Romeu challenge), innovative solutions for small-scale biomethane liquefaction in port environments (Naturgy challenge), and optimization of the generation, distribution and management of renewable energies for the decarbonization of the port (València Port Authority challenge).

During three days the participants have developed innovative solutions in response to the challenges posed. For this, they have had the advice and support of expert mentors in ports and foreign trade from the sponsoring entities, the Talent Garden organization, the promoters of the initiative, Fundación Valenciaport and Telefónica Open Future, and entrepreneurs from one of the startups accelerated by Opentop in the last year, Sensing Tools.

Throughout the weekend, different workshops focused on creativity and idea generation, prototyping, business model canvas, and pitch (or short presentation) that have been guiding the participants with techniques to finish their proposals successfully.

In addition, there have been two Keynote Sessions where participants have been able to learn firsthand the state of the sector. On Friday the session was in charge of Jordi Oliver, innovation expert and entrepreneur who shared the experience of his startup and the value of activities such as a hackathon. On Sunday, Antonio Sánchez, Senior Product Manager of Kaleris-Navis and Vital Vialas, Data Scientist of the company, shared their experience working with the port and their innovative implementations.

The activities have been developed in the emblematic Clock Building of the Port of Valencia itself, and have also included a visit to the port enclave to know its infrastructure and operation.

In addition, on Sunday after the awards ceremony, there was a networking session for all participants, the partners who launched the challenges and prize partners already mentioned, collaborating companies such as Navis, HPE Aruba Networking, APM Terminals and Infoport, Google Cloud as Tech Partner of this edition, and other entities that have supported the initiative as VLC Invest in València, Innovation Committee of Valenciaport Cluster, Startup Valencia, Ideas UPV, València Activa, City Council of Valencia, as well as invited professionals of the sector.

Jury III Valenciaport Hackathon

The jury of the III Valenciaport Hackathon was formed by representatives of the companies responsible for the challenges, the organization and the Fundación Valenciaport: Federico Torres (Port Authority of Valencia), Mª Carmen López (Naturgy), Juan Enrique Yxart (ROMEU), Lorena Ballester (Association of logistics managers and entrepreneurs Propeller Valencia), Salvador Furió (Fundación Valenciaport), Karina Virrueta (Startup Valencia) and Marta Campos (Talent Garden).

What is Opentop?

Opentop is the open innovation initiative of the Fundación Valenciaport, which seeks to generate growth and opportunities in the port logistics sector of Valencia, bringing together companies, entrepreneurs and startups with different actions such as this III Valenciaport Hackathon.

The Opentop team, after successfully closing this III Valenciaport Hackathon, continues to seek and generate projects and alliances with all those partners in the port logistics sector who want to develop open innovation projects.

On the website opentop.es you can learn more about the initiative.