At Demo Day 2025, Ocean Innovation Takes Center Stage

Recently, the fifth cohort of startups in BlueSwell—a blue technology accelerator founded by the New England Aquarium and SeaAhead—gathered for Demo Day, an annual celebration and culmination of the 20-week program.  

The theme for the evening was “Blueprints for a Better Ocean,” highlighting the relationship between cutting-edge tech and environmentally responsible practices as the foundation of a thriving blue economy, and key to a healthy future for the ocean. “Each startup that you see tonight demonstrates that innovation inspired by and for our ocean is what we need right now more than ever,” said SeaAhead founder and CEO Alissa Peterson in her opening remarks.  

Guest speaker Ashley Stolba, Undersecretary of Economic Foundations for the Healey-Driscoll administration, addressed Massachusetts’ recent commitment to support bluetech and climate science innovation in the state. By investing $1 billion in the industry over the next ten years—as well as helping founders “start, scale, and grow” their businesses—the administration aims to make Massachusetts a leader in ocean innovation and foster opportunities for startups like those in BlueSwell. 

BlueSwell focuses on bridging the gaps between innovators, ocean experts, industry, and the venture community, leveraging SeaAhead’s bluetech domain expertise and the Aquarium’s long history of using science developed by the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life to protect the ocean and marine animals. Over the course of the program, founders receive funding, mentorship, networking opportunities, and more to help them convert their startups into sustainable, profitable businesses. Demo Day gives each startup founder the chance to highlight their progress at the program’s end. Each aspiring entrepreneur shares their company pitch in front of an audience of Aquarium and SeaAhead community members, as well as potential investors, business partners, and future customers.   

Watch the Demo Day recording and meet the Cohort V startups below!

Meet BlueSwell Cohort V: 

ARMADA Marine Robotics 

ARMADA Marine Robotics is bringing scalable infrastructure to marine monitoring through an array of underwater drones, an efficient and flexible method to collect important ocean data. 

Coastal Measures 

Coastal Measures offers an AI-powered data hub that unifies data streams to gain new insight into environmental behaviors. 

Crewless Marine Acoustics 

Crewless Marine Acoustics provides scalable hydrophones for uncrewed sea vehicles and acoustic monitoring stations that turn acoustic data into actionable insights.

Dottir Labs 

Dottir Labs is building real-time sensor systems to monitor inland aquaculture and other aquatic environments. This helps safeguard ocean and water ecosystems while sustainably meeting global food demands. 

HydroPhos Solutions 

HydroPhos Solutions utilizes filtration technology to extract phosphorus from wastewater and resell it in a form that is usable in fertilizer, addressing both eutrophication—a process where excessive nutrients cause an overgrowth of algae and other plants—and the global phosphorus shortage. 

Kai Pono Solutions 

Kai Pono Solutions is replacing conventional stormwater drainage with a high-performing filtration system. This provides a proactive approach to mitigating stormwater pollution by removing trash, harmful chemicals, and other pollutants from urban runoff.​ 

WATABOT 

WATABOT is revolutionizing water quality management by integrating cutting-edge robotics and AI to provide real-time monitoring and early warning systems for harmful algal blooms and other water contaminants.