Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaishaor NYK Line, acquires Germany’s salary platform for maritime workers, Cadmas it seeks to further expand the range of Fintech services in the maritime sector.
The companies did not reveal the financial terms of the acquisition agreement, which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Graduates of Mit Justus Schmueser and Sasha Makarovych founded Kadmos in 2021, with the aim of providing businesses, including shipowners and ship management companies, with affordable and transparent salary choices internationally, especially for seafarers.
In 2019, NYK launched a Financial Services platform called Marcopay in Manila, Philippines, offering loans and insurance for the Philippines and their families. Since then, he has worked with ships and ship management companies and has still acquired Electronic Issue License (EMI) from the Central Bank of the Philippines.
NYK approached Kadmos for the acquisition according to her plan to develop the digital payment business beyond the Philippines. It plans to integrate the Kadmos platform at Marcopay, providing payroll solutions to seafarers of all nationalities.
“Our plan is to take advantage of Kadmos’s global range and coverage, while using Marcopay’s advantages in the Philippines,” Makarovych told TechCrunch. “Beyond that, we plan to use the NYK brand and reputation to grow faster in shipping and sign customers faster – it’s a widely respected brand worldwide recognized by the whole industry.”
Kadmos also plans to expand its capabilities beyond payroll to provide B2B cross -border payments and corporate cards. The company intends to expand its mission to also serve the cruise industry and wants to provide additional financial services for shipping companies and sailors through a partnership with NYK, Makarovych added.
Makarovych said the Kadmos team will stay in the company, with minor adjustments to the management structure.
There are several digital payment platforms available for shipping companies such as Martrust, Shipmoney and Brightwell.
However, Makarovych believes that Kadmos stands out thanks to his limbs, recording as examples its features that allow companies to operate completely in cash on boats, including virtual sale devices and peer transport.
“Our cards are non-personalized and have the broader acceptance, which allows companies to develop Kadmos on their ships very quickly without complicated logistics with cards,” Makarovych said. “Kadmos’s pricing is built in an extremely flexible way, allowing companies to cover their crew fees in a very personalized way, while remaining compliance with regulations from the shipping contract – our competition just charges a monthly saas.”
Kadmos recently set a round of $ 29.5 million in 2022. The round brought Kadmos’s total capital to $ 38 million. Now has more than 40 business customers.
