New England Aquarium Corporation

Blue technology (bluetech) in New England is emerging as one of the world’s new economic clusters. However, in venture capital, bluetech is still a nascent investment sector. To address this issue, the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium has partnered with SeaAhead’s Blue Angels Investment Group to form Blue Angels Upswell, a capacity-building opportunity to expand the amount of angel investment in bluetech startups that benefit the environment and create new, inclusive jobs of the future. SeaAhead coordinates with 80+ ocean-related startup members in Greater Boston’s bluetech innovation hub, and implements the BlueSwell Incubator program, a collaboration between SeaAhead and the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. The Blue Angels investor group was established to strengthen the bridge between numerous accredited investors and the triple bottom line opportunity in bluetech today. This EDA award will scale the Blue Angel platform and strengthen the link between ocean sustainability-related venture ideation, later-stage venture capital, and corporate venture offices.