Fresh Views on Salty Issues

BlueSwell Cohort IV’s Demo Day

Rhode Island designated Ocean Tech Hub and expands Grow Blue Initiative in 2024.

Hailing all the way from the United Kingdom, SafetyNet Technologies was excited about the opportunities offered by SeaAhead’s Gulf Blue Navigator program on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. CEO of SafetyNet - Dan Watson - started the company in his final year project while studying product design engineering in Glasgow. Specializing in an impressive assembly of devices designed to perfect precision fishing, SafetyNet wasted no time in throwing out a line and applying to the program. 

Radmantis was founded by two academics looking to use their book smarts to create solutions to real problems. The result? A robotic fish management system that uses AI and machine learning to interact with fish in a way that is not harmful to them. 

 Looking to expand from Midwestern fresh water to salt water, Radmantis participated in the third cohort of the BlueSwell Incubator. During the program, they took advantage of SeaAhead’s partnership with the New England Aquarium to facilitate this alteration to their technology. Since graduating from the program, Radmantis has forged a strategic partnership with Local Coho, sustainable seafood farmers, which has allowed them to improve their product offerings.  

We sat down with Radmantis’s co-founder Moira van Staaden to discuss the company’s journey and its future plans. 

As SeaAhead continues to expand, our emphasis is increasingly directed toward cultivating global partnerships, recognizing their indispensable role in addressing major environmental issues. 

Recently, SeaAhead’s Investment Principal, Luke Sawitsky, traveled to Norway for Floating Wind Days 2023, a conference held by Norwegian Offshore Wind, to build connections and learn about renewable energy advances in Europe. We caught up with Sawitsky to hear more about his recent trip.

Blue Ocean Gear first made a trip to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi in the summer of 2022 before applications for the Gulf Blue Navigator opened. When the chief business officer of Blue Ocean Gear, Peter Macy, received an invite to get a first look at the program, he did not hesitate to accept. Familiar with the Gulf Coast from his previous gaming industry role, Macy returned for his first visit since 2005.

With shrimping vessels trolling, oyster farmers harvesting, and shipbuilders busy on the shore - the Gulf Coast of Mississippi has always been a cornerstone of the blue economy. Today, we see a new blue economy emerging with technology like that of Blue Ocean Gear bringing smart sensors to fixed gear fisheries worldwide.

Happy World Oceans Day to all our readers! The UN has announced the theme for 2023 as “Planet Ocean: Times Are Changing” which is consistent with SeaAhead’s mission of rocking the boat in the world’s ocean economy. 

Following the celebration of our 5th birthday on Tuesday, June 6th, we at SeaAhead would like to take this opportunity to reflect. Since our founding in 2018, we have hosted three BlueSwell cohorts and graduated 19 companies from this program. Our Mississippi-based Gulf Blue Navigator program also graduated its first cohort of six post-pilot startups.

All the way from Singapore, BeeX gave a resounding “yes” when they were offered a slot in the Gulf Blue Navigator program. Co-founders Grace Chia and Eng Wei Goh are a young and ambitious team with the skills to match. A spin-out from the University of Singapore, BeeX already ran several pilots of their autonomous underwater vehicles in Europe. The Gulf of Mexico was intriguing enough to entice them to make the 23-hour (one way) flight multiple times.

SeaTrac is one of the first cohort members of the Gulf Blue Navigator program. The company is renowned for its cutting-edge solar-powered uncrewed surface vehicles that are designed for autonomous observation, data collection, and reconnaissance. In an interview with Alessandra Bianchi, Communications Director at SeaTrac, we discuss the company's business operations, the enormous potential of the Gulf Coast, and the region's welcoming Southern hospitality.