The Department of Commerce and NOAA are recommending awards totaling $54.3 million to four blue economy accelerators that support small businesses and entrepreneurs working on coastal resilience and a sustainable ocean economy.
Recommended awards will support the development of technologies and services that address ocean renewable energy, coastal and ocean carbon sequestration monitoring and accounting, hazard mitigation and coastal resilience, and ecosystem services that accurately assess and forecast ecosystem changes. Each accelerator awardee will address all four theme areas and additional themes as the market evolves. They will recruit small businesses and startups from across the nation and provide them with resources, mentorship and funding to bring their products to market.
They were recommended for awards through the Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerators program. The U.S. funding is made available through the Inflation Reduction Act.
“Today’s awards support small businesses and entrepreneurs that are building the tools, services and industries that coastal communities need to become more resilient to the climate crisis,” said Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta. “These kinds of public-private partnerships make our economy stronger and our communities safer.”
More than 40% of the U.S. population lives in coastal counties that produce in excess of $9.65 trillion in goods and services and employ 54.6 million people.
“This program is the first of its kind at NOAA,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “We are bringing the public and private sectors together to create sustainable business models, for technologies, products and services that tackle climate resilience needs in oceans, coastal regions and the Great Lakes.”
Recommended awardees and funding amounts include roughly $13.5 million each to four blue economy accelerators: StartBlue Ocean Enterprise Accelerator, UC San Diego-Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Rady School of Management; gener8tor Great Lakes Innovation Accelerator; VentureWell Ocean Enterprise Accelerator, National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance; and The Continuum, Tampa Bay Wave, Seaworthy Collective, St. Petersburg Innovation District, Braid Theory, University of South Florida, Ocean Exchange and World Ocean Council.
“This program is about collaboration, partnership and most importantly, sending the signal that there is demand for ocean-based products and services to support the blue economy,” said U.S. IOOS Office Director Carl Gouldman. “NOAA is not only a funding partner, but also brings together Ocean Enterprise stakeholders and clients for these products and services ourselves. We’re asking what’s needed, listening to the response, and advancing solutions to meet the growing demand for ocean, coastal and Great Lakes information.”
NOAA will remain engaged with the awardees as they operate, providing information, support and expertise. In collaboration with the Ocean Enterprise Initiative program offsite link, NOAA will also bring together government, industry, academia and others to gather broadly informed blue economy needs and requirements, as well as ascertain market and investment potential for those technologies, which will help inform priorities and recruitment decisions for the business accelerators.
