Our commitment

SeaAhead was formed on the principle that bluetech startups can deliver triple bottom line impact. In addition to direct environmental impact, these businesses will create economic impact for their investors and local economies and social impact through job creation and positive community impacts in under-resourced, underserved neighborhoods.

We strive to build, catalyze, and invest in businesses with positive environmental, economic, and social impacts. As a public benefit corporation, we hold ourselves to this standard as well by focusing on our own triple bottom line impacts through our practices and in our workplace.

Environmental

We work with companies that address climate change and support resilient natural ecosystems. We turn to UN SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) to track how ourselves and our bluetech community contribute to more sustainable ocean industries.

Economic

As a signatory of the UN Sustainable Blue Finance Initiative, SeaAhead is dedicated to implementing the Sustainable Blue Economy Principles. The principles promote the implementation of SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and serve as a guiding framework to financing a sustainable blue economy.

Social

SeaAhead is proud to be a women and minority led organization. We center equity and inclusion within our own workplace and support startups that create significant positive change to address pressing challenges including job security, environmental justice, and gender equality.

Our 2022 Goals

  • Track our environmental and social impact and support startups within our community to do the same

  • Engage experts and community groups to help facilitate impact work and understand frontline perspectives

  • Expand partnerships and collaborations to increase our impact by sharing resources and knowledge to provide multifaceted support for entrepreneurs

  • Increase diversity in program pipelines through identification and outreach to early-stage startups with the potential for positive environmental impact, opportunities that will result in job growth or other social impact, and diverse teams

  • Increase access to capital for high impact bluetech startups through program funding and investment

  • Map out regional core facilities to increase access to available equipment and expertise in the region’s university and research organizations

  • Diversify voices in bluetech programming (e.g event speakers, mentors)

  • Build a diverse bluetech startup workforce

Our Progress

Tracking & Measurement

  • We measure the diversity in our community and programs through anonymous surveys and collection of application data. These data will be published in a 2022 year-end report.

  • SeaAhead works with startups to track their environmental and social impact. The BlueSwell Incubator, a program run in partnership with the New England Aquarium, works with entrepreneurs to understand and communicate their impact on ocean health and sustainable ocean industries.

  • SeaAhead is a member of the 1000 Ocean Startups Coalition, a group developing a streamlined and cohesive system for tracking impact metrics for the ocean impact innovation ecosystem.

Diversity & Inclusion

Support & Access to capital

  • In partnership with the New England Aquarium, we have funded 13 companies with positive ocean impact through the BlueSwell Incubator. Cohort III of the BlueSwell Incubator, to be announced in Sept 2022, will add to this group. Grant funds awarded to the startups have increased to $50k/team in Cohort III.

  • We are expanding our regional impact and driving economic growth by partnering with the University of Southern Mississippi to launch the Gulf Blue Navigator. Selected startups will receive non-dilutive funds to support their growth and participation in the program.

  • SeaAhead’s Blue Angels investment group has made investments in 14 bluetech companies focused on climate change mitigation, overfishing reduction, aquaculture technologies, shipping digitization, and more.

 Our Partners

A journey ahead

The healthy growth of New England’s Blue Economy and long-term sustainability of our marine and coastal communities are critically dependent on new and emerging technologies and innovative solutions. A sustainable, diverse and inclusive ocean economy will not evolve organically. It will take focused activities that welcome new ideas and new people with diverse lived experiences into the community. It depends on effective collaboration between stakeholders that can leverage a suite of tools and expertise to further social and environmental impact goals. Its success relies on effective outreach to communities that have not felt a strong connection to the ocean or been included in the marine/maritime industries.  

SeaAhead has built and leads a robust ecosystem of bluetech innovators – entrepreneurs, scientists, educators, students, corporations, and non-profits – that is driven to create positive, sustainable change in our oceans and along our coasts. We are proud of the progress we have made but recognize that there is much work to be done. We will continue to work to increase the positive impact this ecosystem can have on the world.

As we engage in this work we recognize the value of community feedback. If you have feedback on what we can do to make our work more diverse, equitable and inclusive, please let us know.