Mark Huang_E24: Rise of BlueTech [2/1/2021]

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3 min readFeb 1, 2021

https://anchor.fm/posi2ive/episodes/Mark-Huang_E24-The-Rise-of-BlueTech-212021-eppvbd

EPISODE24: The Rise of BlueTech

Mark Huang, CoFounder at SeaAhead in Boston [2/1/2021]

Note: References with links are listed at the end of the show notes.

INTRO:

1:00 Shares background in military, cleantech, and naval architecture. Discusses the cost-curve of Lithium-Ion, LED Lighting, and Sustainable Food sector. Introduces BlueTech, and how they believe it will lead to venture scale transformation. Also highlights passion for economic development and creating good-resilient working-class jobs.

SECTION1: Bluetech

7:00 We discuss the OECD’s report on the Ocean Economy (see link below), and how it ties into BlueTech (startups focused on ocean technologies). Mark shares the rise of the middle class, creating more demand as wealth grows. Draws an analogy of shipping and silos, which may have limited global innovation tied to startups. Mark makes the same analogy with Bluetech.

9:00 Talks about the four legs of the SeaAhead platform. Talks about urban innovation inspiration starting with Boston first. Discusses networking, mentoring, incubation, and how they are leveraging venture for Bluetech — getting technologies out of the lab.

SECTION2: Tragedy of the Ocean

22:00 Mark shares distinguishing focus on venture based innovation — which can be STEM based. Talks about innovation, as a driver to act as a bridge to ocean sustainability. Mark addresses questions from the posi2ive community. Shares ideas about eco-tourism and reefs, pointing to hotels and economic development driving some market based solutions that capture parts of the true value of an ecosystem.

27:00 Mark talks about precedent regarding cleantech, big food, and land based investments, as a case for the investment opportunity of BlueTech. We discuss policies that may benefit the marketplace and ecological systems at the same time. Mark sees true cost (‘Social Cost’) is internalized; we’ll see additional positive impacts. We discuss grants, and partnership approaches for startups, and the public sector and mission-driven foundations.

SECTION3: Local Communities

36:00 We break into community-based sourcing with the example of SeafoodCollab (see links below). Points to US economic zone as a highly regulated zone. Talks about locally sourced seafood. Gives a shoutout to Neptune and another Akua, sourcing sustainable seafood. Breaks out the certified versus tracible labeling — and how audits may tie into sustainable sources. Points to blockchain and other solutions which may help in this area. Talks about the New England example of buying from regulated fisheries, and how it ties into low carbon protein. Talks about the offshore wind energy dynamics, is often driven by arguments that are not always rational.

SOURCES:

-Mark Huang [LinkedIn]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-huang-14519a59/

-SeaAhead: https://sea-ahead.com/

-BlueSwell [Their first cohort]: https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/inno/stories/news/2020/10/28/blueswell-2020-cohort-startups-bluetech-incubator.html

-OECD Ocean Economy: http://www.oecd.org/sti/the-ocean-economy-in-2030-9789264251724-en.htm

-Katapult Ocean [Norway Accelerator]: https://katapultocean.com/

-Double Bottom Line [Wiki]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_bottom_line

-Leed Certification: https://www.usgbc.org/leed

-BCorp Certifcation: https://bcorporation.net/

-Poseidon Principles: https://www.poseidonprinciples.org/#principle1

-Monterey Bay Certification: https://www.seafoodwatch.org/

-Marine Stewardship Council [MSC label]: https://www.msc.org/home