BlueTech Starts 2024 With $154MM Raised

Happy MLK Jr Day. Here’s hoping you had a nice and peaceful long weekend while thinking about one of the greatest civil rights heroes in US history.

ICYMI, last week I released a 2023 analysis of the BlueTech venture ecosystem. Check it out here. This is the first time I’ve done something like that and I’d love to hear your feedback.

Since I released the EOY analysis last week, this week will be two weeks’ worth of BlueTech news.

If you like this free newsletter and what I’m doing with it, do me a favor and refer it to a friend OR share it on social media.

OceanTech Fundings

The main event. Startup investment announcements in OceanTech.

₿ Blockchain-based digital trade document platform WaveBL raised $37MM in Series B led by NewRoad Capital Partners with ZIM, Marius Nacht, Contour Venture Partners, Frank Sica, and Techstars Central LLC and Reefknot Investments. | More from CTech

💧 Water management and testing system company 120Water raised $43MM from Edison Partners and Allos Ventures. | More from Pulse 2.0

🤖 Autonomous maritime surveillance company ThayerMahan raised $20MM in a follow-on Series C with led by Hanwha Asset Management and participation from MC2 Security Fund, AE Industrial Partners, I Squared Capital, and Yellow Sub Funding. | More from Pulse 2.0

🔎 SynMax, a maritime and energy intelligence company, raised $13MM led by Bill Perkins and Alex Moore. | More from Pulse 2.0

🔍 PierSight, a satellite-based surveillance provider for the maritime industry raised, $6MM in a SeedRround led by Alpha Wave and Elevation with participation from Techstars. | More from Entrackr

📊 Vortexa, the energy and shipping analytics platform, raised $34MM in Series C from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, Notion Capital, Monashees, Metaplanet, FJ Labs and Communitas Capital. | More from TradeWinds

🐠 Seafood traceability supply chain company Seaqua raised $600,000. | More from WeAreAquaculture

More OceanTech News

Some of the OceanTech articles we liked. Not fundings necessarily, but some great stuff:

🚢 Columbia Group Launches Venture Capital Arm Galactic Beacon Ventures | The Cyprus-based provider of ship management and maritime services, launched Galactic Beacon Ventures, its new venture capital arm. | More from VCWire

🐟 Finnish food-tech startup Enifer awarded $13.2MM grant to build mycoprotein factory | A spinoff from VTT in Finland, Enifer is targeting human food, pet food, and aquaculture markets with its mycoprotein, produced from a fungal strain. | More from Ag Funder News

🦑 Aquaconnect and StartupTN launch blue economy innovation challenge in Tamil Nadu | Aquaconnect, a startup with a platform that gives aquaculture operators access to farm advisory, farm inputs, and post-harvest market linkage, has launched a program that will help to promote innovation in the aquaculture sector in Tamil Nadu. | More from The Fish Site

More Ocean Sustainability News

Even if it isn’t tech, that doesn’t mean we don’t love reading these pieces:

🚢 Luxury Resort Gets Denmark's First Hydrofoiling Electric Boat | The UK-based electric vessel company Artemis has sold a high-tech hydrofoiling workboat to an island resort in Denmark, putting the possibility of all-electric marine transport on display in a luxurious setting. | More from Maritime Executive

🍤 US land-based shrimp farmer says expansion effort back on track, aims to raise $75MM | Scaling is everything, says Robin Pearl, founder and CEO of American Mariculture | More from Undercurrent News

ICYMI

💰 Yachting Ventures and Seaworthy Collective announced a BlueTech startup pitch event in Miami next month. Both of these organizations are awesome supporters of the BlueTech community. And Seaworthy Collective is taking applications for its studio and incubator. If you are a BlueTech founder, you should check both of these out.

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