April 12th, 2021

Congratulations to SeaAhead, Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI), and Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) as recipients of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration's SPRINT Challenge awards. The Scaling Pandemic Resilience Through Innovation and Technology (SPRINT) Challenge builds on EDA’s efforts to work with communities to build strong regional economies, according to Dennis Alvord, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. “Our grantees’ projects are laser-focused on using innovation to help America overcome the economic, health and safety challenges brought on by the pandemic.” A total of forty-four awardees were selected from a pool of 238 applicants.

March 17th, 2021

ACTION Innovation Network and Blue Institute Labs are pleased to announce the program awardee for the InterACTION Bluetech 2021 program, Max Echeverria, Founder and CEO of Eskuad, based in Concepción, Chile. Made possible through a Department of Commerce Economic Development Regional Innovation Strategies i6 grant, the InterACTION Bluetech 2021 program is offered to international bluetech startups that are ready to initiate an expansion in the US in Massachusetts/New England, one of the main innovation ecosystems worldwide, or wish to leverage the knowledge and resources in the area and generate new business opportunities. Six international companies participated in the three-week InterACTION Bluetech 2021 program in late February through early March. Windcity (Rovereto, Italy), Aquafort AI (Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada), Arricife Energy Systems (Bilbao, Spain), Mabel Systems (Nova Scotia, Canada), Eskuad (Concepción, Chile), and Sedna Technologies (Nova Scotia, Canada). The program award was presented to Max Echeverria of Eskuad. Eskuad will receive one year of incubation at Blue Incubator, which will provide mentoring to establish a pilot in the US, as well as a desk and access to community activities.

March 11th, 2021

Join us on Wednesday, March 31st from 10:00-11:30 am for Northeastern - ACTION Innovation Network: A Partnership for Talent and Research, a webinar presentation on the Northeastern Talent Solutions Model featuring Co-op, the Experiential Network (XN) and research partnership opportunities. This program is available to both startups and incubator organizations at no cost. The presenters from Northeastern University will describe how their programs work, highlight the benefits for startups and incubators from accessing student talent across a wide-range of skills to help with your organization’s objectives, and outline the next steps to begin utilizing the program. The two Northeastern research centers will cover their innovative work along with opportunities to partner. During the Breakout Rooms portion of the agenda, startups and incubators will have the opportunity to discuss potential talent acquisition and XN projects and make connections for further research exchanges.

ACTION has used the XN program successfully and highly recommends it for its members and their resident companies. There is no cost for this program. Interested in hearing more? Please register here to receive event login information.

February 11th, 2021

ACTION welcomes SeaAhead as its newest member! In 2019, the SeaAhead Bluetech Innovation Hub opened at CIC, 50 Milk Street in Boston, as the first ocean-focused coworking space in Boston, with the goal of connecting the venture ecosystem in Boston’s urban core with relevant industry and ocean-related research institutions throughout New England. As a 2020 EDA Industry Challenge awardee, the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium partnered with SeaAhead to create the Blue Swell Incubator Program, New England’s first dedicated, comprehensive early-stage bluetech incubator program. BlueSwell focuses on bridging the gaps between innovators, ocean experts, industries and the venture community. SeaAhead operates Greater Boston’s bluetech innovation hub, with 35+ ocean-related startup members and the Blue Angels investor program. Bluetech is becoming one of New England’s top clusters, supported by Greater Boston’s deep capabilities in both venture innovation and ocean related research. The SeaAhead ecosystem includes technologists, scientists, startups, corporations, governments and other ocean stakeholders that are coming together to create impact in areas including greener shipping and ports, aquaculture and fishery processes, offshore alternative energy, plastics and smart, resilient cities. SeaAhead will participate in ACTION's InterACTION Bluetech 2021 program in February and March for international bluetech companies interested in expanding their network in New England's bluetech ecosystem through meaningful collaborations for successful US market access. Visit SeaAhead at www.sea-ahead.com.