Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based CEO’ operating in the Marine Technology space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Andrew Yeoman
Co-Founder and CEO of Concirrus
Andy is the founding CEO of Concirrus and since then has led the company’s strategy to solve a problem in the insurance industry – how to harness the power of big data and artificial intelligence to improve loss ratios. Andy has driven the vision and product roadmap of the company built a solid customer base and reputation for the business. In 2019 Andy was voted the second most influential person Worldwide in Marine Insurance. Prior to Concirrus Andy had extensive experience in telematics, big data, and insurance in start-ups, turnarounds, and M&A. He’s passionate about discovering new business models that technology can unlock for the insurance market and their customers.
Follow Andrew Yeoman:
About Concirrus: Concirrus support digital transformation of the specialty insurance industry using the latest developments in technology.
Steve Marsh
Founder and CEO of GeoSpock
Steven Marsh is a Co-Founder of GeoSpock Limited and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Steven Marsh is also the lead architect of the Collide platform and co-lead architect of GeoSpock DB. He has experience of building real-time and highly-scalable systems he has overseen the creation of GeoSpock’s state-of-the-art geo-location and social networking mobile development platform. Steven Marsh is a computer scientist. As part of his research, Steve is part of a team building a customisable FPGA-based super-computer designed to carry out real-time simulation of extreme-scale neural networks such as the brain. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge.
Follow Steve Marsh:
About GeoSpock: GeoSpock builds GeoSpock DB, the unique space-time analytics database that delivers rapid insights at a fraction of the cost.
Chris Jones
CEO and Co-Founder of CargoMate Technologies
Chris co-founded CargoMate with Dennis to solve the inefficiencies experienced during his 12 years of working on container ships. He spent the last five years of his seagoing career operating icebreaking container ships in the North Atlantic for OOCL.
Follow Chris Jones:
About CargoMate Technologies: CargoMate Technologies saves millions in fuel costs by helping container ships leave port early.
Michele Grassi
CEO & CTO of 40South Energy
Michele Grassi (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter), born in 1970, has a degree in Mathematics from Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and a PhD in Mathematics from the University of California Los Angeles. He also studied for some time in Oxford, UK. In 2005 he had an idea for an innovative method for extracting energy from waves. After the initial preliminary studies, in 2008 he created 40South Energy Ltd in London to complete development of the Intellectual Property, to fabricate and to commercialise the machines globally. The Italian subsidiary 40South Energy Srl carries out some development and construction, mainly related to the mechanical components. The UK company has recently expanded its presence, opening an office in Plymouth. 40South Energy has a special relationship with Plymouth University and collaborators from Exeter University. From the Plymouth office it will be easier to coordinate the various projects planned for the South West of the UK, among which the Scilly Airport WEP. The machines that we build constitute a generation jump with respect to the previous ones, in terms of survivability, reliability, load factor and cost. In 2010 the Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena provided a loan to finance the construction of the first full scale pre-commercial prototype of a 150kW machine. In the summer of 2010 Zurich agreed to insure our machines (for damages against third parties), due to the intrinsic multi-layered security measures (both active and passive) incorporated already in the D100t prototype deployed and tested offshore during that summer. During 2011 we tested offshore the second generation of full scale machine, the 150kW unit called Y25t. Its operation allowed us to validate completely the computerised “wave to wire” model that we use to forecast the behaviour of machines at sea. During 2012 we sold the first R115/150kW machine to Enel Green Power, one of the major renewables players in the world. During 2013 we completed construction and had first electricity production offshore from the first R115 machine and we also received orders for R115 machines from other clients. We started expanding the projects from the current ones in the UK and in Italy to several other locations around the world, where we have customers interested in developing Wave Energy Parks based on our R115 machines. From a technological point of view we started development of an intermediate prototype, called R380/500kW, useful towards the design of the next generation machine, also using to finance part of this project a grant to 40South Energy Srl from Regione Toscana. The R380/500kW will serve as the basis platform for the R1300/2MW machine, our second commercial offering which we expect to launch commercially during 2015. During the first quarter of 2014 we completed the test campaign on the first R115 machine. In the second quarter of 2014 we started development of our WT25 powertrain, which is used in the R115/200kW, in the R380/500kW and in the first machine in the new line of H-machines, the H24. The H design is as groundbreaking as the R one, and allows us to expand in a new market segment (shallow water wave and tidal conversion) completely separate from that of the offshore wave machines of type R. The fact that these machines share the powertrain is an added bonus which improves dramatically out production process. Together with our partners of Elements Works SRL we completed the consenting process for a first H-WEP (H-machine water energy park), where we installed one H24-50 machines. The machine was installed at the Marina di Pisa wave energy park in November 2016, and after a month of commissioning was put into operation. Electricity from wave energy was produced but was NOT put into the Italian grid (it was dissipated as heat locally). In November 2016 we sold the first H24-50 to Enel Green Power, and later in December 2016 Enel Green Power invested in 40South Energy Italia, alongside Invitalia Ventures. During 2017 40South Energy Italia worked at the update of the design of the H24-50, to bring it from TRL 7 to TRL8. In the meantime another investment was done, by Genia Srl and Invitalia Ventures. In the summer of 2018 a first update of the H24-50 installed off Marina di Pisa was completed, from version 1.0 to 1.1, to start testing the “version 2” transmission which will be used in the TRL8 H24-50 v2. This time the electricity produced was injected in the Italian Grid, starting from the first production event on Thursday September 13th, 2018. This date is a fundamental milestone, as it was the first grid production of wave energy in the Italian grid (and most likely the first or one of the very few in the whole continental Europe).
Follow Michele Grassi:
About 40South Energy, Element Works: 40South Energy we have the expertise to turn ocean wave energy into useful work.
Adam Anderson
Chairman and CEO of T. Parker Host
Adam Anderson joined the company as a boarding agent in 1998, where he gained hands-on waterfront experience, and quickly became an influential part of business development for the company. By the age of 24, he developed and negotiated Host’s first terminal operation contract. During his first 13 years with the company, he had many jobs including truck loader, stevedore, terminal manager, business development manager, marketing, and regional manager. When he became executive vice president, he was able to take his first-hand knowledge developed on the docks and grow Host’s top and bottom lines by more than 600% in eight years. In 2011, he was elected to his current role of president. In this position, he is responsible for setting the vision for the Host company and leading our team through rapid scalable growth across all of our platforms. He currently sits on several maritime board associations and has become a recognized industry expert who shares his wealth of knowledge within the maritime industry through conferences, forums, and events.
Follow Adam Anderson:
About T. Parker Host: T. Parker Host is a solutions provider for customers’ terminal, stevedoring, marine asset, and agency needs.
