The Door to Industry
Instant local presence in global industrial hubs
Bridge the Proximity Gap
The Problem
The Proximity Gap
Advanced Robot. zero local presence.
Availability
"Can you have a tech on-site tomorrow?"
Without local support, you’re a “risky vendor” regardless of tech superiority. Operators can’t afford downtime waiting for international shipping.
Visibility
"Plant managers don't Google, they ask their local service provider."
If you’re not in the room when problems arise, you don’t exist. Decision-makers consult trusted on-site partners first.
Demo Dilemma
"We would first like to do a proof-of-concept"
No access to real industrial assets for live demonstrations, lab tests fail to convert skeptical procurement teams.
Logistics
"Your demo unit is stuck at customs. Again."
Tariffs, ATA Carnets, Brokers, HS codes, Shipping, …
Hidden costs, wasted time, each delay kills deals
The Long Road to Closing
"Can we have a budgetary quote for our CAPEX request for next year?"
Building trust with risk-averse corporate buyers requires a high-touch approach. A typical B2B robotics deal requires a sequence of 3 to 5 physical touchpoints:
- Initial Meeting at international trade shows or online.
- Facility Demo for on-site validation, done in meeting rooms, not the production site.
- Proof of Concept or Pilot Deployment in operational environments.
- Contract & Support finalizing SLAs, training staff & service providers.
- …
The Solution
A Local Operating Base
Scaleport is positioned inside major industrial clusters. We act as your local team, bridging the gap between your technology and the plant managers, procurement leaders, and operations directors who need it.
We transform distant, risky vendors into visible, trusted, local partners.
Physical presence
a local address
- Exhibition & Demo space
- Private Offices
- Meeting Rooms
- Your Team on the Ground
- Constant Market Presence
Operational backbone
Next to your customer
- Logistics (shipping & receiving, customs, preparation)
- "Dirty Zone": was-down & decontamination
- Repair workshop
- Testing & Training Area with real life assets
commercial ecosystem
close deals, repeat
- Monthly Operator lunch & learns
- Local Tradeshow support & Secured booth Space
- Rental & Distribution Channel
- Voice of Customer
HOW IT WORKS
From Foreign Company to Market Insider.
Six steps. One partner. Every industrial market we operate in.
01 / LEGAL FOUNDATION
Established on the Ground in Weeks
Entity Formation & Registered Address
We handle the legal setup in your target market, the right entity structure, a permanent registered address, and every filing that comes with it. You stay focused on your product.
02 / Your Team on the Ground
YOUR LOCAL CHAMPION
First Hire Sourcing & Employer of Record
We source a local industry professional with the relationships and sector credibility that take years to build and get them working before your entity is fully live. Local knowledge, from day one.
03 / OPERATIONS LOCKED IN
Banking, Payroll, Insurance. Handled.
Market-Specific Back-Office Setup
Business banking, compliant payroll, and the sector-specific insurance your target customers require, coordinated through vetted local partners. One point of contact. No overhead.
04 / PRESENCE THAT OPENS DOORS
Your Base Inside the Industrial Cluster
Hub Access & Ecosystem Visibility
A permanent, operational facility where your target customers already operate, your equipment staged, your brand visible, your team credible to asset owners who need to see you before they buy from you.
05 / YOUR FIRST CONVERSATIONS
Introductions, Not Cold Outreach
Customer Access & Demo Pipeline
Curated introductions to asset owner contacts, demo slots scheduled at the hub, and logistics managed end-to-end. You arrive prepared. The groundwork is already done.
06 / BUILT TO REPLICATE
One Playbook. Every Market.
Multi-Hub Expansion
Add the next hub without rebuilding from scratch. The entity framework, partner network, and operational infrastructure travel with you. Houston to Rotterdam to Singapore.
Scaleport
Trusted By the industry
Connecting Asset Owners, Industrial Service Providers and Technology Developers
Launchpad
everything you need to get started
- Our end to end service helps you deploy in weeks instead of months.
Asset Owners
Pre-qualified vendors, real Use cases
- The fastest way to evaluate new technology without putting it on your maintenance schedule.
About Us
Trust, Transparency & Decades of Industrial Reality
- When entering a facility represented by Scaleport, you borrow the trust our team has earned over decades of safe, reliable industrial operation.
FAQ
your Questions answered
Common questions we hear before every signup.
What is the Proximity Gap in industrial robotics?
The Proximity Gap is the structural barrier that prevents robotics and drone companies from establishing local presence near industrial customers. Asset owners in oil and gas and petrochemicals require vendors to have local facilities, logistics capability, regulatory compliance, and operational credibility before awarding contracts. Building that presence independently costs over $400,000 per year in a single market like Houston, putting it out of reach for most scaling companies. Scaleport closes this gap with shared industrial-grade hubs that give members instant local presence without the capital burden.
How can a robotics company enter the US oil and gas market?
Entering the US oil and gas market requires more than a sales rep and a plane ticket. You need a US legal entity, a commercial bank account, employer infrastructure, industry-specific insurance, and a physical base near your customers. Scaleport combines all of these into a single membership. Our Houston hub in the Pasadena/Ship Channel corridor puts your technology within minutes of the largest concentration of refineries and petrochemical plants in North America, and our LaunchPad service handles entity formation, banking, payroll, and insurance in 30 days.
What is Ecosystem-as-a-Service?
Ecosystem-as-a-Service is the operating model behind Scaleport. Instead of building isolated offices in each target market, robotics and drone companies share industrial-grade infrastructure, logistics, commercial networks, and market entry services through a membership. Members get a permanent exhibition space, equipment storage, shipping and customs management, introductions to asset owner contacts, and access to industry events. The shared model reduces market entry cost by more than 50% compared to a standalone operation.
Who is Scaleport for?
Scaleport serves robotics, drone, and industrial technology companies that have a working product and early commercial traction but have not yet built regional operations in their target markets. Typical members range from pre-seed to Series B and include inspection robotics OEMs, autonomous drone platforms, sensor and monitoring systems, and industrial AI companies. The common thread: the technology works, but the company lacks the local infrastructure to convert pilots into enterprise contracts in oil and gas.
Where are Scaleport hubs located?
The flagship hub is in Houston, Texas, in the Pasadena/Ship Channel industrial corridor, the heart of the US refining and petrochemical sector. A European satellite hub in Singen, Germany, approximately 60 minutes from Zurich, is planned to serve Swiss and EU-based robotics companies with logistics staging, light repair, and cross-border support. Additional hubs in Rotterdam, Singapore, and Dubai are on the roadmap. Each location is selected for proximity to the highest concentration of operating assets in its region.
How much does a Scaleport membership cost?
Scaleport offers three membership tiers. Starter at $950 per month provides access to office and meeting space, the testing and training ground, and hub events. Grow at $8,000 per month adds a permanent exhibition display, a container office, shipping and receiving, tradeshow support, and reseller options. Scale at $19,500 per month provides a full regional headquarters with expanded exhibition space, two container offices, a dedicated workshop, and priority logistics. Setup fees apply for Grow and Scale tiers. All tiers include access to the commercial ecosystem, including introductions, demo days, and lunch-and-learn sessions with local asset owners.
How is Scaleport different from a coworking space or incubator?
Coworking spaces offer desks and meeting rooms. Incubators offer mentorship and pitch events. Neither provides industrial-grade facilities, equipment logistics, customs brokerage, ATEX-compliant environments, or direct commercial access to oil and gas buyers. Scaleport is purpose-built for robotics and drone companies selling into heavy industry. The hub includes a test and training area, a contaminated equipment turnaround zone, exhibition halls for live hardware demos, and an integrated logistics operation that handles everything from HS-code classification to ATA Carnets. No generic workspace offers this.
What is Scaleport LaunchPad?
LaunchPad is Scaleport’s US market entry service for international robotics companies. It covers the eight operational layers required to become commercially active in the United States: entity formation, registered US address, business banking, employer of record bridge, first-hire advisory, PEO payroll and benefits, industry-specific insurance, and ongoing compliance management. The entire sequence is designed to take a member from signed agreement to legally operational and commercially active within 30 days. LaunchPad is available to Grow and Scale tier members.