COAST partners with Blue Action and Founders Factory to launch Blue Action Canada, a new blue economy accelerator in British Columbia
COAST partners with Blue Action and Founders Factory to launch Blue Action Canada, a new blue economy accelerator in British Columbia
Words Founders Factory
January 7th 2025 / 3 min read
The new accelerator, based in British Columbia, Canada, will support eight startups solving challenges and creating opportunities across the blue economy
Blue Action Canada will be Canada’s first accelerator program to be wholly focused on ocean ventures
On top of a four-month support program, startups will tap into Founders Factory, Blue Action, and COAST’s global network of investors, governments, and industry partners
The program is a collaboration between BC-based COAST, global startup investor Founders Factory, and Bahamas-based climate investor Blue Action
[Victoria, British Columbia, 7th January 2025] Today, COAST, Pacific Canada’s hub for the sustainable blue economy, announced the launch of Blue Action Canada, a pilot accelerator to support eight British Columbia-based blue economy startups. Key areas of interest include offshore energy, ocean monitoring and data collection, aquaculture, and coastal resilience.
The accelerator will provide support to eight founding teams over a four-month program, with a particular emphasis on operations, product development, technology, customer discovery, commercialisation and fundraising. Blue Action Canada will also provide a platform for companies to access a global community of investors and partners, including Blue Action’s growing network of ports and government partners spanning ten countries, to explore pathways to pilots, testing grounds, and commercial partnerships.
British Columbia is not only home to one of North America’s most exciting technology ecosystems, it is also one of the world’s blue economy epicentres. BC’s blue economy is valued at over $21 billion, encompassing over 25,000 km of shoreline, 40,000 islands, and more than 450,000 km² of internal and offshore marine waters. The west coast province is historically and economically significant to the country’s maritime industry, with the Canadian government recently announcing plans to invest in decarbonising heavy industry in British Columbia.
George Northcott, President & Co-Founder of Founders Factory, “We are so excited to work with COAST and support the blue economy ecosystem in British Columbia. We are looking forward to working with the founders in the program.”
Rupert Hayward, President & Chairman of Blue Action, "As we expand our model for climate-resilient futures for coastal communities and their marine ecosystems, we are delighted to see growth into a cold-water marine environment in collaboration with one of the leading blue economy jurisdictions and partners in British Columbia, COAST."
Launched in 2023, Blue Action Accelerator is a collaboration between Founders Factory and Bahamas-based ocean hub Blue Action. The program offers founders best-in-class support, blue economy industry leaders, and a global network of climate and ocean investors. To date, the program has made 11 investments including DRIFT Energy, Ocean Ledger, Brineworks, ACUA Ocean, and Armada Technologies. Their portfolio has raised a combined $31M in follow-on funding. BAA is backed by Builders Vision, IAlumbra, Sea Forward Fund, and Planet Ocean Fund.
Jason Goldsworthy, Executive Director of COAST: “British Columbia is home to both a legacy of success and a rising tide of innovation in the blue economy—from AI-enabled ocean conservation, to marine renewable energy. Through COAST's partnership with Blue Action and Founders Factory, the Blue Action Canada pilot will bring international partners and industry-leading experts to support BC’s ocean founders, and cement Pacific Canada’s position as a global hub for ocean innovation.”
The Blue Action Canada pilot will commence in January 2025, culminating in a residential program in May 2025 bringing startups to Vancouver, coinciding with Web Summit coming to the Canadian west coast city.
-ENDS-
Media contacts
Founders Factory: Laura Moross, external PR consultant laura.moross@foundersfactory.co
COAST: Sophie Silkes, ssilkes@canadacoast.ca
About Blue Action
Blue Action builds climate solutions through world-class venture, project development, capacity-building and advisory support with its international team of experts in sustainability, finance and law.
Blue Action has a unique international network of real-world testing grounds, such as the Free Trade Zone of Freeport in Grand Bahama, Port of San Diego, AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, Miami-Dade County, Monaco and Barbados.
Through these strategic relationships, Blue Action offers climate tech startups facilitated access to critical infrastructure, natural environments, utilities, as well as corporate and government partners for pilot and commercial opportunities.
About Founders Factory
Founders Factory builds and funds startups together with exceptional entrepreneurs and the world's leading companies.
Created by IPO-exited founders and operating globally, including London, New York, Berlin, Milan, Perth and Singapore, Founders Factory offers founders capital, operational support from a team of hands-on experts, and unrivalled access to a coalition of industry leading corporate partners.
Founders Factory's Venture Studio co-founds businesses from inception, developing new ideas, technologies and business models into high growth companies.
Operating sector-focused Accelerator programmes and Venture Funds for pre-seed and seed stage startups, Founders Factory invests in talented and diverse founding teams across industries and geographies—with a current focus on FinTech, Health, Climate, and Deep Tech.
Since 2015, Founders Factory's 300+ portfolio companies have raised over $1 billion follow-on funding from leading funds and investors.
About COAST
COAST is Pacific Canada’s hub for the sustainable blue economy. COAST’s mission is to build B.C. into a global leader in the world’s rapidly growing ocean economy, paving the way for new sustainable and export-driven jobs and enterprises. COAST has a membership of individuals, companies, and organizations involved in the region’s ocean economy, and opened British Columbia's first ocean-focused coworking space, the 7,000 square foot COAST Ocean Innovation Hub, in October 2024. COAST is an initiative of South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP), Greater Victoria’s economic alliance.
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