VentureWell, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected 15 startups for the Spring 2026 Stage 1 cohort of the VentureWell Ocean Enterprise Accelerator. These teams’ inspiring solutions—ranging from LiDAR-supported coral reef monitoring to an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle mapping the ocean—each push the future of the blue economy forward.
Building on the successful implementation of our first year of programming, the Spring 2026 Stage 1 cohort is set to continue advancing commercialization readiness and supporting innovators at the forefront of coastal innovation.
The program offers three months of targeted mentorship and virtual sessions, a three-day in-person workshop, and a $15,000 Technology Development and Commercialization (TDC) award for each company. Participants also gain access to a multi-year support pipeline, offering staged mentorship and more than $140,000 in additional non-dilutive funding opportunities.
Introducing the Spring 2026 Cohort
Adaptora
Brooklyn, New York
Tensora Inc. is developing a subsurface risk intelligence platform that combines depth-resolved monitoring with decision support to help coastal decision-makers reduce infrastructure risk from land subsidence.
Advanced & Innovative Multifunctional Materials (AIMM)
Dayton, Ohio
AIMM is developing water treatment sorbent technology utilizing hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) for contaminant removal, removing up to 200 times more contaminant per weight of material than conventional means at ultrafast speeds.
BeamSea Associates
Loxahatchee, Florida
BeamSea Associates automates species-level coral reef ecosystem monitoring at operationally relevant scales using a fluorescence-enhanced, high-resolution 3D LiDAR imaging system.
Euler Materials Inc.
San Diego, California
Euler Materials creates impact resistance and vibration damping materials for maritime data collection applications.
Goeppert LLC
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Goeppert LLC is advancing rapid, low-cost screening of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination in coastal waters and the Great Lakes using aptamer-enhanced solid-state nanopore technology.
HALOBLUE Tech | California State University, East Bay
Hayward, California
HALOBLUE Tech, working out of California State University, autonomizes monitoring systems that deliver continuous, defensible performance data for coastal restoration projects at a lower cost per acre than traditional vessel surveys.
Kanopi: A Scalable Coral Reef Shade | University of Miami
Miami, Florida
Kanopi, working out of the University of Miami, is developing a modular, hexagonal floating shade structure designed for marine conservation and governmental agencies to counter the effects of solar radiation on coral reefs.
LAZARUS LLC
Cambridge, Massachusetts
LAZARUS LLC has created a new helmet-mounted 3D sonar technology that will enable commercial divers to operate in zero-visibility conditions.
Nearview LLC
Portsmouth/Durham, New Hampshire
Nearview is a multi-object-detection AI system that identifies lobster buoys, boats, moorings, aquaculture pens, and floating gear from aerial and satellite imagery to support marine-user deconfliction.
Ocean State Sensing
Newport, Rhode Island
Ocean State Sensing maps water column temperatures of the oceans for blue economy stakeholders.
Polaris EcoSystems
Austin, Texas
Polaris EcoSystems conducts remote monitoring of structural degradation in piers, ports, and other shoreline assets serving coastal communities using a photogrammetric reconstruction for automated coastal infrastructure assessment.
Sediment
Greensboro, North Carolina
Sediment has built Instagrain, a handheld camera for instant sediment grain size analysis in the field—no lab required.
Seeweed LLC
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Seeweed LLC is an AI-driven, app-managed camera system enabling long-term underwater monitoring for conservationists and anglers, with powerful tools for aquatic research.
Sunfish, Inc.
Austin, Texas, and Tallahassee, Florida
Sunfish Inc. is building a person-portable, hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle capable of navigating complex environments to generate georeferenced 3D biodiversity and infrastructure maps.
Voltic Shipping Corp.
Boston, Massachusetts
Voltic Shipping Corp has patented a power system to enable unlimited-range, zero-emission, fully electric retrofits of existing cargo ships without replacing legacy infrastructure.
The Ocean Enterprise Accelerator Entrepreneurial Journey
Stage 1 virtual programming will begin on April 22, with weekly coaching sessions held until June 10. The in-person portion will be conducted at the University of Rhode Island Bay Campus June 16-18. We look forward to supporting the progress of these teams as they build their solutions, conduct customer discovery, and continue to advance innovation for the blue economy.