Pyxis: Powering a Sustainable Maritime Future with Electric Vessels

In January 2025, Tommy Phun, founder of maritime start-up Pyxis, reflected on the start-up’s remarkable progress over the past three years. Headquartered in Singapore, Pyxis had raised S$4.5 million (US$3.4 million) in seed funding in 2024, bringing its total funding to S$6 million (US$4.5 million). With the financial backing, Pyxis could advance its mission of supporting maritime companies’ transition to electric and decarbonised fleets, thereby aligning with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s mandate for new harbour craft to be fully electric or capable of using net-zero fuels by 2030.

Drawing from his experience managing his family business, Eng Hup Shipping, Phun founded Pyxis in 2022, focusing on addressing the maritime industry’s challenges. Pyxis’ key offerings comprised three business verticals: Electric vessels, Energy (i.e., charging infrastructure), and Electra, a digitalised shipboard management system. In March 2024, Pyxis launched X Tron, its first electric passenger transfer vessel designed to reduce carbon emissions and enhance fuel efficiency. On Pyxis’ vessels, Electra provided real-time shipboard data to enable better decision-making on fuel usage, route planning, and preventive maintenance. Pyxis Energy participated in a pilot trial the following month by providing a vessel charger at Marina South Pier.

Strategic partnerships were crucial to Pyxis’ growth. Collaborations with industry leaders like Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, a global shipping company based in Japan, and SP Mobility, the national grid provider in Singapore, facilitated regional expansion and strengthened its market position. Looking ahead, Phun envisioned Pyxis as the market leader in maritime coastal electrification in Asia Pacific by 2030. How could this promising start-up, recipient of the 2024 Emerging Enterprise Sustainability Award, sail full steam ahead to sustain rapid growth while balancing financial, operational, and regulatory challenges?

Students will explore how entrepreneurs drive sustainability with innovation, identify the key challenges in transforming a traditional industry like maritime, and analyse how strategic partnerships can play a part in scaling a start-up and driving industry-wide change. This case is designed to be taught in undergraduate and postgraduate classes.

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