Blue Ocean Robotics (Denmark) on 14 August announced the opening of Blue Ocean Robotics SEA (Southeast Asia) with base in Singapore, where the needs of a rapidly ageing society and a focused political initiative on market development, are driving demand for robotics. The establishment is motivated by the government’s earmarked budget of SGD 450 million (USD 330 million) as part of The National Robotics Programme, to support the societal robotic scaleup and industry-level transformation from 2016 to 2019. From Singapore, the company will target the surrounding countries of Southeast Asia, whose 662 million population makes it the world’s third largest market (after China and India).
In Singapore Blue Ocean Robotics is set up as a Joint Venture that will also be the vehicle for Blue Ocean Robotics to work with users and partners in China – the world’s second largest economy (annual growth rate ranging from 6 to 7%) which is fast shaping up to become a future leader in innovative technology and business models.
“Blue Ocean Robotics SEA is excited to bring not just new technology but a new partnership model to the market. WE co-create robots in close partnership with end-users and market leading companies. Thus, we bring developers, researchers and businesses together, to bring innovative robot solutions to the market by utilizing living labs as test beds. Asia offers a large pool of investors looking for new growth businesses. It is key to these investors that the technology has been verified by the end users to solve a scalable need in the market. By bringing everyone together in the development process, we can contribute to better quality-of-life, productivity and work environment for users and workers alike – in healthcare, education, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, offshore and logistics,” says Peter Tan, CEO and Partner of Blue Ocean Robotics SEA.
“We are experiencing a great deal of interest in our RoBi-X partnership program from both private and public partners from the Southeast Asian region. On top of that we find it appealing that the Singaporean government funds a growth program that will increase the development rate and demand in robotics over the coming years,” says Claus Risager, Rune K. Larsen and John Erland Østergaard, Co-CEOs and Partners of the Blue Ocean Robotics Group and based in Denmark, and continues: “Therefore, our mission in Singapore and Southeast Asia is first and foremost to team up with new partners from various markets and then together design, develop and commercialize a range of new generations of robots which will eventually lead to a portfolio of robotic spin-out companies to be located within the Singaporean tech community and to be on a steep growth curve for the benefit of the region and our business. We are also excited about having C.L. Goh, Peter Tan and Chee Bin Tay as our partners in Blue Ocean Robotics SEA. With this team to lead our activities in Southeast Asia we are well positioned to be successful.”
Peter Tan will take the seat as CEO. Peter has more than 30 years of management and operations experience in automation and robotics from the manufacturing, telecommunications, transportation and healthcare sectors. In the position he brings in-depth knowledge of international business, having set up green-field operations in Suzhou (China) and managing markets in China, the rest of Asia, Europe and USA.
The second partner is C. L. Goh, who is the founder of MMI Systems, a leader in industrial test equipment and robotics automation in data storage. He is also investor and board member in several start-ups in robotics and life sciences.
Chee Bin Tay, co-founder of AI4U, also joins Blue Ocean Robotics SEA as Director. Chee Bin Tay brings a proven track record and expertise in defence technology, an influential leadership role in future advanced material systems technologies, advanced ICT technologies and innovative transportation platforms. Chee Bin Tay is also investor and advisor to technology start-up companies in nano-materials, robotics and artificial intelligence.
Blue Ocean Robotics creates and commercializes robots! Blue Ocean Robotics applies robot technology to create solutions and innovation for end-users and new businesses in partnerships. Through the RoBi-X partnership program The Danish firm create robots to improve quality-of-life, working environments and productivity. The RoBi-X partnership program is for anyone looking to disrupt their business, their way-of-working and improve competitiveness.
