The official term for what SeaAhead does is this: "catalyzing the intersection of oceans, innovation and sustainability."
But when gets down to the brass tacks about its practical mission, SeaAhead is basically wearing many, many hats in the "blue tech" sector, and wearing them well.
First, what is blue tech? It's any technology or enterprise focused on the ocean, or ocean-adjacent work.
Peterson breaks it down further.
"If we’re thinking about new technology, there's offshore wind power and coastal resiliency, networks that would allow a detailed model of where flooding [would occur]," explained SeaAhead Executive Director and co-founder Alissa Peterson. "And fisheries and aquaculture — you don’t think about technology [there], but there are number of new ventures in development that would help you manage an oyster aquaculture farm."
That's not all. She described projects that help clients better analyze seafood traceability, "hybridize" boats and kill invasive species in the ballast water of ships.
Peterson said that all these missions and the local startups who champion them are all "blue tech," and as such are under SeaAhead's purview. It's with these companies that the entity's team wants to work with, in an effort to make their influence grow.
They do this a number of ways, through investments, incubation, mentorship and facilitating connections between the startup community at large — especially with those entrepreneurs and investors who might not realize how much their interests overlap.
"There are folks who aren't thinking of blue tech right now [who] might think about clean tech or fintech; blue tech is a new concept," Peterson said. "We want to create the kinds of programming and events that bring in all different parts of this new sector, so that would be corporations, governments, regulators; folks that help small businesses build their capabilities — manufacturers, entrepreneurial mentors, interested corporations who want to do work in this space. We try to break down the self-imposed limitations."
The "we" Peterson mentions includes herself; SeaAhead co-founder and Managing Director Mark Huang, who was formerly the economic development director for the city of Providence; and co-founder and Board Director Jason Kelly, who also serves as executive vice president and board member for Moran Shipping Agencies, Inc. Peterson, who had a history in the clean tech startup world, said the trio brings a unique and robust perspective to the table.
In fact, it was their work together that inspired the creation of SeaAhead, which officially launched in January of this year as a bootstrapped company with just a few corporate sponsors.
The entity's influence covers southern New England, 75 miles around its headquarters in Providence.
"The reason we draw our boundaries like that is because we think this is the core area where blue tech capabilities are located," she added. "We think about ourselves as the center."
That hasn't kept SeaAhead from working with the blue tech community at large. In fact, Peterson mentioned the team visiting Halifax, Nova Scotia, and various locales within the EU to engage in causes and speak at conferences that fall underneath SeaAhead's umbrella of interest.
Working in the community and inspiring entrepreneurs is important, Peterson said, because it helps all blue tech companies.
"There are folks who aren't thinking of blue tech right now [who] might think about clean tech or fintech; blue tech is a new concept."
"We would define innovation as new ideas with the potential for high impact — impact from an environmental perspective, impact for a scalability service," she continued. "For a solution to be impactful, it has to be scalable; a business model that is financially stable needs to be sound. That’s why we support new ventures."
It's a goal that SeaAhead wants to carry into the future, with the team looking to open a physical HQ with a coworking space, increase its mentor network, develop conferences and curate its incubator's first cohort. Additionally, SeaAhead has a host of more events calendar, on top of its most recent soiree on sustainable seafood.
"What we try to do with our events is, we work to help identify the problems that entrepreneurs face; what are the problem spaces so that solutions can be identified?" Peterson said. "Getting all these people in a room makes for a really fun event because [attendees] don’t normally get to hang out with both the investors and the regulators; getting all those people together at the same time is valuable."
While the next event is just around the corner (Sept. 20 in Cambridge, details TBA), Peterson said that interested companies and entrepreneurs shouldn't wait to start getting involved.
"Our request is that people who have tech that is in this space reach out and introduce themselves," she added. "Same thing to investors interested in investing: Get connected with us."
