From your phone to your clothes or even the breakfast you ate this morning, there’s a high chance a boat transported it from where it was made to where you bought it. The global shipping industry accounts for around 90% of world trade.
Most of these goods are ferried by giant cargo ships that carry massive amounts of cargo but are slow and not exactly agile, resulting in long waiting times for shipments. Additionally, diesel-powered cargo ships contribute approximately 3% of global CO2 emissions, more than air travel.
German startup CargoKite aims to replace these vessels with fleets of small, autonomous, wind-powered boats that can get the job done faster, cheaper, and without emissions.
A giant kite propels the boat by harnessing higher-altitude winds at around 300 meters, which are more constant and steadier than those closer to the ground. Because they use free wind power, these boats are significantly cheaper to operate than traditional cargo vessels, which spend over half their operating costs on fuel alone.
For calm days, CargoKite will equip its boats with a diesel-electric motor as a backup power source, with the long-term goal of transitioning to fully electric or zero-emissions fuels.
CargoKite’s boats will utilize hydrofoils, lifting the hull out of the water to reduce drag, allowing them to travel twice as fast as conventional cargo ships. Their small size also makes them more nimble at port, enabling quicker unloading and offloading of goods.
However, the real innovation and CargoKite’s primary intellectual property lie in its software.
AI-powered Navigation
CargoKite has developed an algorithm that autonomously controls the balance between the kite and the hydrofoils, enhancing efficiency.
The company has also created an AI-powered route planner that calculates the optimal route and precisely determines the ETA of a vessel based on real-time weather conditions.
Marcus Bischoff, an avid kitesurfer and entrepreneur, conceived the idea for CargoKite during his time at the Technical University of Munich.
“Being a passionate kitesurfer for more than 20 years and an engineer at heart, I was always fascinated by the enormous forces that a kite can generate,” Bischoff said on the company’s website.
“Combined with major advances in control engineering and the use of kites as a retrofit for ships, I saw an inflection point in technology that enables a new ship class.”
Bischoff later teamed up with fellow students Amelie Binder and Tim Linnenweber. Together, they founded CargoKite in 2022 to bring the concept to life.
The company has since grown to 16 employees, based in a small office in Munich. It has secured pre-seed backing from US early-stage fund SOSV and recently signed a collaboration agreement with Lomarlabs, the venture arm of British shipping firm Lomar.
Stylianos Papageorgiou, managing director of Lomarlabs, called CargoKite a “radical new ship type” with the potential to “reframe the way port and maritime logistics are organized” and become a “groundbreaking decarbonization solution for shipping.”
Last year, CargoKite tested a 9-meter catamaran with a kite system and hydrofoils in the Atlantic Ocean. The company is now in the design phase of its full-size vessel and the construction of its demonstrator prototype. It aims to launch its first fleet in 2027.
