134th Edition
Hi everyone!
Let’s jump into it.
News
Exploring a futuristic approach to maritime decarbonization, this RISE article highlights how DRIFT Energy is developing wind-powered sailing vessels that generate green hydrogen at sea by using onboard turbines and electrolysis systems to create mobile, off-grid renewable energy production platforms.
XPRIZE has announced 37 semifinalist teams advancing in its $119M Water Scarcity competition, marking a key milestone in the global effort to develop scalable desalination technologies that can deliver affordable, sustainable freshwater from seawater at large scale.
Blending biomimicry with large-scale 3D printing, Dutch startup Coastruction is developing modular, purpose-built reefs designed to accelerate marine restoration by supporting coral growth, enhancing biodiversity, and improving coastal resilience with a lower environmental footprint than traditional reef construction methods.
Hawai’i has a bill in the works (SB 2907) that would establish a centralized Office of Marine Affairs to coordinate and accelerate the state’s blue economy, including ocean industries, infrastructure, and innovation, while integrating Native Hawaiian knowledge into marine policy, and it is currently in conference committee for final legislative reconciliation. You can track the bill here.
As coastal flooding and sea-level rise intensify, climate-driven “tail risks” are increasingly reshaping investment, insurance, and infrastructure decisions across the blue economy, exposing growing financial vulnerabilities for ports, coastal assets, and ocean-dependent industries.
Combining a recent funding milestone with a broader push toward climate-resilient coastal infrastructure, ECOncrete has secured multimillion-dollar investment to scale its bio-enhancing marine construction technology that transforms traditional concrete into habitat-supporting structures that strengthen biodiversity while protecting ports, shorelines, and offshore assets.
A recent analysis of a newly permitted deep-ocean carbon removal experiment explains how sinking plant biomass into anoxic seafloor environments could lock away atmospheric CO₂ for centuries, while also raising major concerns about ecological disruption, methane production, and the uncertain scalability of ocean-based climate interventions.
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
The SF Blue Tech May happy hour will be hosted at the South Beach Yacht Club on May 14th. The topic of discussion is ocean biomimicry.
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.
June 1-3, the AI, Ocean & Coastal Territories Waves of Change Forum is being hosted in Biarritz.
The Florida Ocean Alliance is hosting a webinar on June 2nd entitled “The Future of Resilience: Technology, Innovation & Florida’s Coasts”.
The NYC OceanTech Summit will be hosted at BATWorks on June 4th!
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute is hosting “Blue Economy Summer Series: Growing the Value of Maine Seafood” on June 4th.
Symbrosia, Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), and Hawai‘i Technology Development Corporation are co-leading the organization of Kona Kai Festival on June 14th, where ancestral/traditional knowledge and ocean innovation meet for our ocean's health.
On June 17th, Braid Theory is hosting a “Port of LA Harbor Tour and Coastal Resilience Scorecard Workshop”.
The 7th World Conference for Marine Biodiversity will be taking place in Belgium 17-20 November 2026. You can register here.
Learning
A blue paper commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy argues that sustainable ocean governance must move beyond extractive, top-down models by meaningfully co-producing ocean plans with Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders through equitable partnerships, recognition of knowledge plurality, and community-led decision-making.
Addressing the growing push to finance marine conservation through private investment, this paper examines the opportunities and challenges of developing blue natural capital markets, arguing that without stronger governance, equitable market design, and global coordination, efforts to scale ocean-based nature finance risk undermining both environmental integrity and social inclusion.
Drawing on more than a decade of global collaboration, the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR) initiative has advanced transformative, interdisciplinary ocean science by deepening understanding of coupled ocean–human systems and strengthening science–policy linkages, while also revealing persistent challenges around funding, coordination, and adaptability that must be addressed to support more equitable and resilient ocean research networks.
Companies doing the work
WaveGen Technologies is offering a wave power solution to solar energy drop offs that occur during the winter, with an innovative offshore infrastructure that physically repositions itself in real-time to align with shifting wave directions.