Investing in the sustainable blue economy in the European Union
Enriched Impact Investor · Found: 2026-03-11 08:12
The European Union's BlueInvest platform was launched in 2019 to provide investment readiness assistance to blue economy start-ups and SMEs as ...
Funding Details
- Funder
- European Union – BlueInvest / InvestEU / EIB Group
- Funding Goal
- To provide investment readiness assistance, matchmaking with private investors, and equity-based financing to blue economy start-ups and SMEs in the European Union, accelerating the commercialisation of sustainable ocean-economy innovations.
- Funding Amount
- EUR 300 million+ total facilitated investment across all supported companies since 2019; individual grant and equity amounts not disclosed.
- How to Apply
- Applications via periodic EU calls for proposals published on the BlueInvest platform. Investment readiness support is provided on a rolling basis with matchmaking events. Applicants must submit a project proposal aligned with one of the blue economy clusters; selected projects receive grant funding and/or equity investment readiness support.
- Target Region
- European Union
- Contact
- Benedicte Caremier – European Commission | Email: Benedicte.Caremier@ec.europa.eu
- Last Checked
- 2026-03-11 16:40
Application Checklist
Eligibility
Project Scope
Required Documents
Constraints
Summary
The EU's BlueInvest platform, launched in 2019, is a multi-instrument initiative designed to strengthen the sustainable blue economy in Europe. It combines investment readiness support (coaching, mentoring, pitch preparation) with matchmaking between blue economy start-ups/SMEs and private investors, and an intermediated equity instrument delivered through InvestEU and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group to bolster the venture capital ecosystem for early-stage ocean companies. Since its launch, BlueInvest has supported over 330 start-ups and scale-ups and helped them raise more than EUR 300 million in investments, while engaging over 300 investors and catalysing the creation of dedicated blue economy funds. In parallel, the EU issued calls for proposals that resulted in grant funding for selected projects across clusters including Renewable Energy, Bioeconomy/Aquaculture/Fisheries, and Ocean Health & Observation. Supported projects span diverse sectors: wave and offshore wind energy, autonomous surface vessels for ocean data collection, seaweed farming and biorefinery, aquafeed innovation, low-emission shipping, and more. The programme tracks progress through Technology Readiness Level advances, IP generation, and commercialisation plan development. The primary beneficiaries are commercially oriented start-ups and SMEs in EU member states. While the platform has a broad blue economy scope, it is fundamentally investment- and innovation-focused rather than grant-oriented conservation funding, making it more accessible to companies with a clear business model than to traditional conservation NGOs.
Historical Context
BlueInvest was launched in 2019. Grant calls produced cohorts of funded projects in 2019 and 2020 across multiple blue economy clusters. The UN SDGs partnership progress report was submitted on 6 May 2025 and reports status as "on track." Total facilitated investment since 2019 exceeds EUR 300 million across 330+ supported companies.