132nd Edition
Hi everyone!
Tickets for the NYC OceanTech Summit on June 4th are now available. We couldn’t be more excited to have you for the next iteration of our summit! Once again, if you are a researcher or startup looking to attend our event and interested in presenting or tabling, do not hesitate to reach out.
Sea you next week!
News
Framed as a largely overlooked solution to global challenges, this Pew article argues that seaweed could be one of the world’s most valuable untapped resources, offering wide-ranging benefits for climate mitigation, food security, ecosystem restoration, and coastal livelihoods, while emphasizing the need for careful regulation and sustainable industry development.
A new Nordic consortium has secured funding to launch the Nordic Ocean Cluster Accelerator (NOCA), a cross-border initiative designed to unify fragmented regional ecosystems and accelerate ocean innovation by connecting companies with shared infrastructure, expertise, markets, and investment opportunities across the region.
Led by Lancaster University, this new £500,000 initiative aims to transform corporate accountability across ocean industries by developing the first sector-specific reporting toolkit to improve worker safety, protect communities, and standardize how companies measure and manage their social and environmental impacts.
Aiming to transform costly, vessel-dependent offshore operations, Bubble Robotics has raised $5 million in pre-seed funding to develop a persistent “autonomous ocean workforce” of AI-powered underwater robots capable of continuous monitoring, inspection, and data collection across sectors like offshore wind and maritime security.
The EU posted an investor report on “The next wave of blue growth”.
Highlighting the growing momentum of ocean innovation ecosystems, Blue Action Canada has unveiled its second cohort of six startups aimed at accelerating commercialization and strengthening cross-border collaboration in the blue economy.
Opportunities
Upwell LATAM has opened applications for their milestone-driven commercialization program that aims to pair LATAM ocean startups with industry partners for real-world deployment. Their applications are due May 15th.
The AquaScale BIM Innovation Studio+ will be in Galway, 26-28 May. It is a three-day intensive program that aims to bring together a small group of aquatech enterprises for pressure testing, execution planning, etc.
UC San Diego’s StartBlue Accelerator has opened applications for their immersive fall program.
The newest iteration of UCSC’s Blue Pioneer’s program has been announced, this year taking place as a two week immersion acceleration in Zanzibar. Check here for more details.
Canada’s first blue economy accelerator Blue Action Canada has opened applications for their 2026 cohort.
Apply to Katapult’s Ocean Accelerator program that is designed to guide founders through complex entrepreneurial issues, add structure, and help raise a startup’s next round.
Fair Carbon has launched a Blue Carbon Academy that aims to help with the fine-tuning of the design of a Blue Carbon project.
Join the Blue Growth Community to get access to opportunities, expertise, and connections as an innovator.
Events
Driftlines, an Ocean Justice Film Festival supported by The Ocean Nexus, will be hosted at URI through tomorrow, the 29th.
StartBlue Accelerator is hosting an information session this Friday, May 1st.
The WeOcean International Workshop will be taking place in Faro, Portugal from May 4-6.
The Seaworthy Collective is having their Tampa Bay launch event on May 6th.
Zané van Greuning, writer of Blue Tide is hosting a free “Content Marketing for Ocean & Climate Tech Startups” call on May 7th.
During Boston Climate Week, there is an event on May 7th entitled “Where Lab Meets the Ocean— Boston’s Robotics Revolution is Going Global”.
At the LAB Miami, the Seaworthy Collective will be hosting their 2026 startup showcase on May 20th.
Hatch Blue has organized a Blue Catalyst Challenge Demo Day on May 22nd in Singapore.
The 7th World Conference for Marine Biodiversity will be taking place in Belgium 17-20 November 2026. You can register here.
Learning
Addressing a critical gap in ocean governance, a recent study presents a seven-step participatory mapping methodology that enables coastal communities to co-identify and integrate their sociocultural values and knowledge into decision-making processes, offering a scalable approach to more inclusive marine spatial planning and management.
Learn about five seaweed-based startup success stories through the AlgaeProBANOS Algae Accelerator.
The OA Alliance has posted a recording of their webinar regarding ocean acidification and marine carbon dioxide removal.