The BlueSwell Incubator program is accepting applications for its third cohort.
The program is a joint venture of SeaAhead Inc. and the New England Aquarium to support early-stage entrepreneurship in ocean sustainability solutions. Applications to join the upcoming cohort close on July 8 at 5 p.m. ET.
BlueSwell aims to bring together founders, ocean experts, industry leaders and venture capitalists to develop bluetech projects. SeaAhead provides its expertise and network in building companies and the aquarium gives founders access to its five decades’ worth of ocean conservation research and its scientists.
“We are excited for the scientists and technical experts in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life to continue mentoring these transformational startups to maximize their positive impacts on ocean health,” John Mandelman, vice president and chief scientist at the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, said in a statement. “Being part of BlueSwell provides invaluable expertise from Aquarium scientists with decades of experience guiding industry, policy, and ocean management.”
Seven startups completed BlueSwell’s latest program in March. The startups had varying areas of focus, including sea urchin farming, data sharing between offshore wind farms and fishing communities and a camera-based inventory systems for seafood processors. Each startup is now working on different goals for the year ahead, from raising seed rounds to finding new clients.
Each startup in the program will receive $50,000 in funding (an increase from $35,000 for the previous two cohorts) to help bring their projects from the lab toward commercialization. The startups will also have access to industry, investment, academia, government and NGO mentors; their own cohort for support; and a curriculum focused on leadership skills and business tools.
BlueSwell said the startups from its first two cohorts have collectively raised over $9.6 million dollars since they joined the incubator.
For its incubator, BlueSwell said it prioritizes bluetech founders that have taken little-to-no outside capital, with the exception of research and development grants, and are at the start of their company’s journey. BlueSwell is also looking for sustainable solutions that can scale for broad ocean impact.
"We're building on the knowledge we've gained, providing hands-on business support, making more connections than ever, and harnessing the excitement in our growing community,” said BlueSwell Program Manager Katherine Woolford. “If you have an emerging technology that enables ocean sustainability or a prosperous blue economy, we encourage you to apply to the incubator so that we might help you realize your vision in Cohort III.”
