Blue Action Canada! accelerator has introduced its first cohort of sustainable ocean startups whose focus ranges from offshore energy, ocean monitoring and data collection, to sustainable ocean-borne materials, and coastal resilience. The eight startups are based in British Columbia, where they will join COAST, Founders Factory, and Blue Action for a 16-week pilot cohort of this blue economy-focused accelerator.
These are the cohort companies:
7 Leagues Leather makes luxury leather from waste in skin-off fish processing. The company said the fish leather is produced using plant-derived compounds and a proprietary tanning process that results in a plastic-free, PFAS-free, and chrome-free natural leather.
AOE Accumulated Ocean Energy (AOE) is a wave technology company that captures and stores ocean wave energy as compressed air to be transferred to shore or stored in Compressed Air Energy Storage tanks. The company said this eliminates the need to convert energy into electricity at sea. The company said its Ocean Buoy Array System (OBAS) can deliver high volumes of compressed air to be used in applications such as generating electricity, reverse osmosis desalination and water oxygenation.
Celerity Craft is developing the Dynamic Air Cushion Vehicle (DACV). This marine vessel technology is designed to significantly reduce the environmental impact of marine transportation while delivering faster, smoother and more efficient travel.
Ocean AID is a B2B ocean tech startup that uses real-time AI detection and marine automatic target recognition (ATR) systems to enhance sonar, video, and LiDAR to get information about what’s in the ocean. The company said its current uses include retrieving ghost gear such as traps and nets left by fishers; spotting wrecks and fisheries monitoring. Future applications could include monitoring aquaculture and avoiding ship strikes that kill thousands of whales every year.
Offshore Designs specializes in the design, construction, and operation of industrial robots that clean the hulls of ships, making them smooth instead of rough and reducing resistance in the water. This leads to reduced fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while preventing the spread of invasive species.
Open Waters Solar, originally established as a sailing yacht manufacturer, has developed custom-shaped composite marine solar panels for ocean-going vessels. The company said the panels are extremely efficient and resilient and ensure reliable power generation.
Seacork Studio is a Biobased Material Design Studio developing acoustic panels from seaweed. The company works with locally sourced seaweed to create biodegradable non-structural construction materials.
Swordfish Energy Inc. has created a new turbine design, the Swordfish Horizontal Axis ‘Compeller’ Turbine, that the company said can operate in more locations worldwide, including deep water, nearshore, and river environments producing clean, dependable energy up to 2 megawatts per unit, or gigawatts when established in arrays. The company said the gentle rotation of the self-cleaning hydrophobic ‘compellers’ provides safe passage for sea life while discouraging crustaceans and other sessile growth and repelling sub-surface debris.
