Why Innovation in the Blue Economy Can’t Wait
VentureWell and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have embarked on a four-year mission to help up to 220 startups transform novel ocean technologies into market-ready products. The VentureWell Ocean Enterprise Accelerator’s first two cohorts, conducted in spring 2025, have now cleared their opening milestones, offering a preview of how carefully sequenced mentorship, transformative non-dilutive capital, and access to a nationwide network can turn research ideas into tools that strengthen America’s coastal economy. By pairing federal scientific priorities with entrepreneurial execution, this accelerator helps position the United States to lead in manufacturing, data services, and resilient infrastructure that benefits both coastal communities and inland economies.
The stakes are high. The United States is entering an era when ocean-driven innovation is inseparable from national prosperity. Whether the issue is safeguarding ports against storm surges, scaling domestic aquaculture, or modernizing maritime logistics, ocean innovation now touches every region and sector. In 2022 alone, the U.S. marine economy contributed roughly $476 billion to gross domestic product and supported 2.4 million jobs, expanding even faster than the broader national economy.
Stage 0: Commercial Foundations for Emerging Innovators
For researchers and first-time founders, Stage 0 offers a pathway to the innovation journey: three half-day virtual workshops bracketing a month of coached customer discovery. This spring, 22 early-stage teams used value-chain mapping, regulatory briefings, and eight structured stakeholder interviews to turn lab insights into documented market needs.
“Stage 0 offers innovators a disciplined on-ramp to the blue economy—one that respects both scientific rigor and commercial reality,” said Mandy Sutton, senior program officer at VentureWell. Armed with individualized roadmaps, several Stage 0 companies are already preparing grant applications, prototype field trials, or university-industry partnerships that will qualify them for Stage 1 later this year.
Their training set a strategic foundation, with faculty introducing venture-development pathways common to the blue economy, illustrating how value chains differ among key blue economy pillars, such as fisheries, offshore energy, and coastal infrastructure, and guiding teams through exercises that connect laboratory capabilities to real-world pain points. By the close of the session, participants drafted an initial value-proposition statement ready for outside testing. Coaches debriefed interview findings with the cohort, introduced frameworks for quantifying economic value, and offered candid briefings on regulatory considerations. Teams then mapped their technology readiness levels against prospective funding sources, clarifying which milestones belong in an 18-month runway.
Interim fieldwork in the time between sessions bridged theory and evidence, where during the four-week interval, each team conducted eight structured customer-discovery interviews while meeting with a dedicated mentor to refine interview protocols, troubleshoot data-collection hurdles, and verify early insights.
When the cohort reconvenes, instructors will help teams translate interview findings into quantified value propositions, align technology-readiness levels with likely funding sources, and draft their first integrated commercialization roadmaps, concentrating on capital pathways and next steps. With succinct problem-solution narratives being workshopped, innovators will receive feedback from industry advisors on pitch coherence, and compile a six- to 12-month commercialization roadmap—often the first formal plan founders create that integrates technical, regulatory, and business objectives.
This wide range of concepts already illustrates how Stage 0 supports national priorities, with ventures exiting Stage 0 with evidence-backed market hypotheses, prioritized milestones, and mentor relationships that will follow them into the next phase.
This diversity of ideas is exhibited in the cohort as well, from startups like Terra Watts, which is exploring wireless subsea power nodes for long-duration sensor networks; to SeaCrete, which is developing a seaweed-based concrete alternative for low-carbon coastal construction.
Discover the entire Stage 0 cohort.
Stage 1: Accelerating Market Entry in Rhode Island’s Ocean-Tech Corridor
Stage 1 shifts the focus to market discovery and validation and business model development for companies that have already demonstrated a core market need. Fifteen growth-stage startups convened in Rhode Island—which has one of the nation’s most robust marine-technology ecosystems—for a three-day immersive experience that blended classroom rigor with hands-on exposure to coastal research infrastructure.
At CIC Providence, innovators focused on business-model architecture: Founders worked through margin analysis, buyer-influence mapping, and intellectual-property positioning before moving to the University of Rhode Island’s Bay Campus, where laboratory tours and briefings by the Ocean Tech Hub, MassCEC, and the MITRE BlueTech team connected technical roadmaps to federal test sites and opportunities. The training culminated with teams transforming analysis into narrative, concentrating on capital-ready storytelling; veteran investors and former blue-economy executives coached each team through concise pitches. Startups such as Aloft Systems, which is developing advanced propulsion for U.S. shipyards; Soarce, which is converting seaweed biomass into nanomaterial feedstocks for lightweight composites; and Astraeus Ocean Systems, which is coordinating fleets of autonomous surface vessels for real-time ocean intelligence, each emerged with sharpened narratives and immediate action plans.
Meet the entire Stage 1 cohort.
“With hands-on coaching and a national network of subject-matter experts, we give founders the traction they need to move from prototype to scalable production,” said Tricia Compas-Markman, director of National Venture Programs at VentureWell. NOAA Economist-Program Manager Zack Baize added that the cohort’s progress “demonstrates how targeted public-private collaboration can deliver the reliable ocean data and resilient maritime infrastructure the country requires.”
Throughout the three months of virtual training and support, teams have received hands-on mentorship that is opening doors and transforming their business models, including guidance from experts at NOAA. In just one example, Jennifer Stewart of the NOAA Technology Transfer Office guided the teams through the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) process, offering personalized support to each of them. Now, several teams are beginning to work directly with scientists and researchers at NOAA to build the connections they need to take their innovations to the next level.
Beyond this tailored assistance, each Stage 1 participant also secured a $15,000 Technology Development and Commercialization award and will now finalize a Product Readiness Roadmap that aligns engineering deliverables, regulatory submissions, and first-customer engagements. These documents will guide them through later accelerator stages or independent fundraising.
Building the Future of Blue Innovation—Together
Innovators ready to tackle challenges from autonomous data collection to sustainable marine materials—and the partners who can amplify their impact—are invited to connect with us and help build the future of our coasts.
We’re proud to share that the accelerator’s next intake is now open for the fall cycle. Applications are due by July 21. Prospective Stage 0 participants should submit applications by August 26. Founders who advance through all four stages may ultimately access up to $140,000 in non-dilutive awards and four years of tailored mentorship.
We also welcome faculty, investors, regional economic-development leaders, and blue innovation visionaries to engage with this program, sharing this opportunity with their networks.
The Ocean Enterprise Accelerator demonstrates that when science, nonprofit venture development, and private-sector expertise converge, the path from laboratory proof of concept to market-ready product can be dramatically shortened, and outcomes can be significantly amplified. Together, we can help shape a resilient, innovation-driven blue economy for us all. The future of blue innovation is now.