Earlier this month in Brussels, the future was most definitely blue (… and that is a good thing). Here are some of the takeaways for those who were not there.

The Event

The Blue Invest Day annual gathering celebrates and supports the growth of the EU ocean/maritime community. Since its inception in 2018, Blue Invest Day has grown into a powerful catalyzing component in Europe’s blue ecosystem that includes a digital platform and a dynamic community including more than a thousand innovators and dozens of dedicated venture funds. This day is part of the larger Mission Restore our Oceans and Waters Forum 2025 that spanned the entire first week of March in Brussels.  

Blue Economy Competitiveness Global Assessment

In 2023 and 2024, Europe had more Series A investment deals in the blue economy and more early-stage funds dedicated to the sector than North America and Asia/Oceania combined. With the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s upcoming investment strategy, the amount of dedicated funds should double (from 30 to 60) and its new blue economy financial instruments of $230M should generate a 3X return in private investment by 2030.

The EIB has identified important investment gaps that are hindering EU’s blue innovators’ competitiveness on the global stage. In its report Europe Blue Champions launched at Blue Invest Day, the EIB identifies complex regulatory frameworks, a fragmented market, and barriers to access late-stage capital as some of the root causes of many post-Series A venture deaths.

Additionally, high CAPEX requirements, lack of dedicated late-stage funding, and insufficient sectorial market intelligence are shared pain points for blue stakeholders globally. These combined factors are contributing to a higher risk in the sector, which are delaying or flat-out preventing investments and/or market adoption.  The report calls out, “European venture capital funds are not willing to commit large amounts due to the technological risks associated with most of these types of projects, and private equity funds prefer to look for companies that already generate revenues. This may create a situation where companies that have received venture capital (VC) are not attractive yet for private equity (PE).” The same applies to blue funds outside of the EU.

Olivier Raybaud, Managing Director of SWEN Capital Partners, also pointed out that many late-stage funds are not familiar with the blue/maritime specificities, and on the other end, blue scale-ups are often not prepared or set up adequately to access subsequent rounds of funding.

Blue Economy Investment Trends: North America

Blue Economy Investment Trends: Europe

A Sustainable Pathway to Blue Ecosystem Building

Since 2018, Blue Invest has contributed to the creation of many dedicated funds in the EU, but it is still an emerging and delicate ecosystem that requires public support.

• Canada’s Canada Ocean Supercluster (Ambition 2035 Strategy) and Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) are actively contributing to funds creation and direct dilutive/non-dilutive funding. Canada’ s Innovative Solutions Canada, facilitates innovators’ access to government contracts, and should also be a source of inspiration for Europe.
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• In Singapore, which is the #1 blue start-up ecosystem and a major shipping hub, major funds, including sovereign and private investments, will be required to achieve its ambitious Net2050 goals and fully tap into its blue economy potential, according to
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• Japanese CVCs led by private companies such as Idemitsu, ENEOS, and MOL are supporting the development of the blue ecosystem, driven by the J-Credit Scheme.
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• The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) is also working on blue impact financial instruments that will benefit its country members.
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• The U.S.’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will focus primarily on early stage/Series A acceleration programs, which has yet to be deployed, but of note is that the availability of late-stage private capital is less of an issue. In fact, most global ventures are still turning to the U.S. when it comes to post Series-A VC funding in the blue economy sector.

Focusing on Innovation Sandboxes and Regional Blue Economy Strategies

The creation of regulatory sandboxes is another key driver of ecosystem growth. Often hardware heavy, blue economy ventures are needing test beds for their first pilots.

Collaborating with local industrial partners, COVE and ThePier in Halifax, Washington Maritime Blue in Seattle, or AltaSea in the Port of Los Angeles, are excellent examples of such sandboxes that have jointly generated hundreds of successful ventures in North America.  Idemitsu’s Blue Carbon Innovation Studio in collaboration with Hatch Blue is also an interesting model stemming out of Southeast Asia/Japan.

Another key recommendation is a focus on regional blue economy strategies. Forum Oceano’s Hub Azul strategy that is being deployed at the national level in Portugal or Genova’s Blue District in Italy were featured prominently during Blue Invest Day as regional champions.

The Need for Robust Market Intelligence

Throughout roundtables and panel discussions at Blue Invest Day, one thing became abundantly clear: the need for robust sectorial data.

The blue economy is a wide yet still emerging sector that will segment further as it grows. It is one of the fastest growing VC sectors, closely followed by energy and semiconductors, yet it represents only 7% of all cleantech deals.  We are witnessing a mix of first-generation generalist blue funds and new climate funds that have recently extrapolated their investment thesis to include some components of the blue economy. Many of them are focusing on pre-Seed to Series-A funding. The capital stack includes new blended finance tools and evergreen/impact/philanthropic funds, in additional to public support and fiscal incentives in many countries.

With that in mind, Cleantech Group has created Open Waters Market Intelligence, an annual subscription service that will be featuring global comprehensive data and reports on emerging blue technologies, investments, and capital stack. Your feedback and suggestions are welcome. Stay tuned for our first report on the blue capital stack in May.

For more information or comments, contact me at amelie.desrochers@cleantech.com.