The event is part of Blue Core's business support program, focused on generating investment opportunities, collaboration and business growth among the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Representatives of Andalucía TRADE, Banca Sabadell, DayOne CaixaBank, Caja Rural del Sur, CDTI, Garántia SGR, Blue Ocean Ltd. and Sherry Ventures learned first-hand about innovative projects that range from marine biotechnology to artificial intelligence, robotics, blue tourism and the digitalization of the maritime sector
The Blue Core project is 85% financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain 2021-2027
The Free Trade Zone of Cádiz has celebrated the first edition of the Blue Investors Day, an initiative promoted through Blue Core, its entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in the Blue Economy, which brought together 16 startups with investment and financing entities this Thursday to promote access to capital, generate strategic alliances and accelerate the growth of innovative business projects.
The day was inaugurated by the Financial and Blue Economy Director of the Cádiz Free Trade Zone Consortium, José Manuel Fedriani, who highlighted Blue Core's commitment to promoting entrepreneurship and innovation as drivers of economic development.
During his speech, Fedriani pointed out that Blue Core has the objective of creating opportunities for startups, connecting talent with the business ecosystem and accompanying entrepreneurs in one of the great challenges of any innovative project: accessing financing to turn a good idea into a solid and competitive company.
Throughout the morning of Thursday, the participating companies presented their projects through a format of pitch before representatives of Andalucía TRADE, Banca Sabadell, DayOne CaixaBank, Banco Santander, Caja Rural del Sur, CDTI, Garántia SGR, Blue Ocean Ltd. and Sherry Ventures, entities that were able to learn first-hand about the potential of the initiatives and hold meetings with the promoting teams to explore future opportunities for investment, collaboration and business growth.
The sixteen participating projects demonstrated the diversity and innovative potential of the Blue Core ecosystem. SoleaHeat presented a solar thermal solution to decarbonize industrial processes by supplying renewable heat; Bio Absoil, an organic and biodegradable absorbent for the sustainable cleanup of contaminating spills; NauticOps, an intelligent platform to digitize and optimize the operational management of ports and marinas; Cádiz by Sailing, a project that professionalizes cultural sailing trips through maritime heritage interpretation experiences supported by augmented reality, citizen science and digitalization; Under Full Sail – Sea Starlight, an innovative nautical astrotourism proposal that combines navigation, astronomy, gastronomy and scientific dissemination to offer immersive experiences at sea; Eledan Blue unveiled its technology to valorize brown algae and transform them into bioproducts with high added value; Flitly presented a digital platform to discover, reserve and rent active and nautical tourism experiences and equipment; Flavoom presented its circular economy model based on the production of sustainable foods from agricultural surpluses and marine ingredients such as algae; BeZhas showed a SaaS infrastructure that integrates blockchain, artificial intelligence and automation to validate business processes, documents and assets in a traceable way; Aquavis presented an underwater visual assistance system for professional diving that combines sonar technology and real-time data processing; Robotia unveiled robotics and artificial intelligence solutions applied to the automation and intelligent monitoring of hydraulic infrastructures; Trafalgar Environmental Consultant showed his experience in natural capital management, environmental awareness and development of blue economy projects; Levante presented autonomous underwater vehicles for the restoration of coastal marine habitats; Regatta unveiled a platform based on artificial intelligence that acts as an intelligent trainer for sailors through advanced analysis of navigation data; Blue Laboratory presented a sustainable sun cream made from ingredients of marine origin that protects both people and ecosystems; and EONSEA showed a technological solution for the inspection, monitoring and analysis of underwater infrastructures using advanced robotics and artificial intelligence.
The format of the meeting allowed the presentations of the projects to be combined with networking spaces and direct meetings between entrepreneurs and financial entities, favoring a close dialogue about the financing needs, the scalability potential of the startups and the opportunities for collaboration to boost their growth.
With this first edition of the Blue Investors Day, the Cádiz Free Trade Zone continues to consolidate Blue Core as a reference ecosystem for entrepreneurship in the Blue Economy, offering comprehensive support that ranges from business acceleration to the connection with investors, large companies and strategic agents of the innovative ecosystem.
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.