The initiatives stand out for their innovative nature in areas such as port logistics, artificial intelligence, underwater robotics, biotechnology or renewable energies.
The delegate of the Cádiz Consortium, Fran González, has welcomed the new projects, some of them from outside Andalusia and even Spain
The Cádiz Free Trade Zone has welcomed 16 new business projects linked to the Blue Economy in the first call of this year 2026 of Blue Accelerator, the business accelerator of Incubazul – Blue Core.
The program, which will be developed over the next four months, aims to accompany startups and innovative projects in the validation, consolidation and scalability of their business models, through an intensive itinerary that combines
specialized mentoring, strategic advice and preparation for access to financing.
The selected projects have passed an evaluation process in accordance with the rules of the call and have been evaluated by a team of experts in entrepreneurship and the Blue Economy, thus guaranteeing the quality and growth potential of the participating initiatives.
The 2026 edition of Blue Accelerator stands out for its territorial and sectoral diversity. Although a relevant part of the projects comes from the province of Cádiz and the whole of Andalusia, initiatives from other autonomous communities and even from outside Spain, specifically from Finland, also participate, accounting for close to 20% of the total, which reinforces the positioning of the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz as a hub for attracting talent and innovation in the maritime and coastal field.
Innovation applied to the strategic sectors of the Blue Economy
Among the selected projects are technological initiatives applied to port logistics and artificial intelligence, underwater robotics solutions for the restoration of marine ecosystems, biotechnology proposals applied to aquaculture, renewable energies linked to the naval sector, valorization of marine resources and innovative models of sustainable nautical tourism, among others.
The State delegate in the Cádiz Free Trade Zone, Fran González, has welcomed the new initiatives and has shown his satisfaction with the progress and reinforcement that "we are making day by day in our Blue Economy ecosystem to position ourselves as the Blue Economy pole in the province of Cádiz and throughout the south of Spain."
“The fact that we have attracted talent from outside Cádiz and even from northern Europe reaffirms us as a pole of attraction in terms of the Blue Economy, something that we had already confirmed with the three editions of the Blue Zone Forum and that is now confirmed with the arrival of talent from outside that will greatly enrich our ecosystem,” said Fran González.
A comprehensive ecosystem for the Blue Economy
With the start of the business accelerator, the Cádiz Free Trade Zone reinforces its strategic commitment to the Blue Economy as an engine of economic development, innovation and generation of qualified employment.
Blue Accelerator is part of the Incubazul–Blue Core ecosystem, which has already supported more than 100 business projects and continues to expand its tools to support the productive fabric. In addition to the business accelerator, the Cádiz Free Zone program has complementary plans such as Blue Exterior, focused on internationalization; Blue Financing, aimed at access to investment and financial resources; and Blue Core 360º, a free service voucher designed to increase the competitiveness of companies linked to the Blue Economy.
The Blue Core project is 85% financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain 2021-2027, within the framework of priority P1A of the Nurseries 4.0 High Technology Incubators Program, intended to promote a digital and intelligent transition.