CMA CGM Startup Awards: six winning startups driving innovation in shipping, logistics, media, humanitarian action and education

The CMA CGM Group and the CMA CGM Foundation have unveiled the six winners of the third edition of the CMA CGM Startup Awards, an international competition designed to identify and support the most innovative startups in shipping, logistics, media and social innovation. The CMA CGM Startup Awards are organised by ZEBOX, the international innovation accelerator founded in 2018 by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group.

The winners were announced following a morning of pitches by 48 finalist startups, held on 24 September 2026 at Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome as part of Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM). The finalists presented their innovations to a jury comprising members of the Executive Committees of the CMA CGM Group and the CMA CGM Foundation. For the first time, this third edition included the participation of the CMA CGM Foundation.

Six winning startups addressing the challenges of the CMA CGM Group and its Foundation

The six startups were selected for their ability to provide a practical solution to one of the challenges of this third edition:

• Smart Transportation & AI-Augmented Operations: Karim Boussetta, Founder and CEO of HODOR, develops a platform that assigns identities and permissions to AI agents to secure and track their actions within enterprise applications.
• Future Assets & Infrastructure: Levi Gershon, CEO of CRABI Robotics, presents a fully autonomous marine robot capable of cleaning and inspecting ship hulls without taking vessels out of service, thereby reducing their fuel consumption and emissions.
• Next-Generation Media: Rachid Ait Addi, Founder and CEO of Meikai, develops a platform that enables brands to measure, understand and optimize their visibility in generative AI assistants.
• Augmented Talent: Adrien Laurentin, CEO and Co-Founder of Mercateam, develops a training, skills and workforce scheduling platform designed to replace Excel spreadsheets in warehouses and terminals, and assign employees to the most suitable positions based on their skills.
• Humanitarian Logistics & Resilient Supply Chains, a challenge led by the CMA CGM Foundation: Mohamed Ait Ali, Head of Maghreb at Kumulus Water, presents a certified solution capable of producing drinking water by capturing moisture from the air, reducing reliance on plastic bottles and dependence on fragile infrastructure in humanitarian crisis areas.

• Skills, Education & Employability for Tomorrow, a challenge led by the CMA CGM Foundation: Wassim Benouis, Co-Founder of StudiAva, develops FuturIA, an AI-powered solution that analyzes skills and motivations to guide young people towards suitable careers and employees towards appropriate roles within their companies.

   

Tailored support to accelerate their development

Each winner of the CMA CGM Startup Awards will benefit from:

• An opportunity to collaborate with the CMA CGM Group or the CMA CGM Foundation through a funded pilot project or proof of concept.
• One year of support from ZEBOX, the international innovation accelerator dedicated to transforming the shipping, logistics and media sectors, bringing together leading experts from the ecosystem and these industries.

• Privileged access to key decision-makers and the ecosystem of the CMA CGM Group or, for the two challenges led by the CMA CGM Foundation, the Foundation’s ecosystem.

   

Winners of previous editions are bringing their projects to life with the Group

Since the launch of the CMA CGM Startup Awards, several winning startups have had the opportunity to test and deploy their solutions with CMA CGM Group entities. In shipping, GBMS conducted a pilot project enabling vessel movements to be tracked in real time, while Elonroad worked on the deployment of an electric charging solution at the Malta terminal. In logistics, Optioryx tested its warehouse optimisation tool with CEVA Logistics at several European sites. A winner of the 2025 edition, Zelostech.ai is now working to move its warehouse automation solution, based on fully autonomous and electric vehicles, from the pilot stage to operational deployment. In media, the solution developed by Bodyguard has also been deployed within CMA Media.

Continuing the innovation and entrepreneurship momentum driven by the CMA CGM Group

Launched by the CMA CGM Group, the CMA CGM Startup Awards aim to identify the most promising solutions in transport, logistics, media and social innovation, while helping to support entrepreneurship and startups in France.
They also seek to encourage co-innovation between startups and large companies by offering practical opportunities for development and deployment.
This initiative is part of the CMA CGM Group’s innovation strategy, particularly in artificial intelligence, through partnerships with technology leaders such as Google and Mistral AI, investments in or collaborations with startups including AMI Labs, HappyRobot and XXII, as well as the Kyutai research laboratory, co-founded by Rodolphe Saadé in 2023.