Reducing “launch costs” for ocean tech will unlock the blue economy, the same way the private space sector led to a boom in orbital observation and communications.

This year’s COP was a sea change for the growing recognition of the role and speed of innovation in climate tech, and especially in the oceans. Multiple pavilions and a “start-up village” in the Green Zone drew attention to the ways private capital is scaling up broader climate solutions. And the opportunity for public-private financing of truly transformative approaches was at its most palpable. A new $250M Ocean Resilience and Climate Alliance (ORCA) fund was announced, encompassing a portfolio vital to planetary stabilization. In addition, hallway conversations featured the concept of a global “Innovation Fund” to match the scale of scope of what is needed to drive tech solutions that partner with the Global South at inception.

Ocean Pavilion Partners Unveil COP28 Dubai Ocean Declaration in Advance of UN Climate Conference

Propeller Ventures announced four new partnerships with leading ocean science institutions, Oregon State University, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, University of California San Diego and University of Rhode Island. These partnerships build on initiatives to accelerate climate solutions with founding partner, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Working together with new partners in the West, Northwest, Northeast and Pacific regions, Propeller will further expand efforts to identify commercializable opportunities across these institutions, all of which are working at the frontier of ocean science innovation.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) has been a hot topic lately, as many sustainability experts look beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions for mitigating climate change.