The Free Trade Zone of Cádiz has celebrated the first edition of the Blue Investors Day, a meeting organized through Blue Core, its platform for entrepreneurship and innovation in blue economy. The event has gathered sixteen startups with investment and financing entities aiming to facilitate access to capital, establish strategic agreements, and promote the growth of technology-based business projects in the maritime sector.
The financial director and blue economy manager of the Consortium of the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, José Manuel Fedriani, inaugurated the session. During his speech, Fedriani presented Blue Core's strategy focused on generating opportunities for emerging firms, linking talent with the business fabric, and supporting promoters in seeking financing to consolidate their commercial and operational structures.
During the meeting, the participating companies presented their projects through direct presentations to representatives of entities such as Andalucía TRADE, Banca Sabadell, DayOne CaixaBank, Banco Santander, Caja Rural del Sur, the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI), Garántia SGR, Blue Ocean Ltd., and Sherry Ventures. These corporations have evaluated the potential of the initiatives and held bilateral meetings with work teams to analyze investment options and corporate development.
The sixteen presented projects reflect different areas of sectoral innovation. SoleaHeat has detailed a thermosolar solution aimed at decarbonizing industrial processes through renewable heat. Meanwhile, Bio Absoil has developed an organic and biodegradable absorbent designed for cleaning contaminating spills. In the management area, NauticOps has showcased an intelligent platform aimed at optimizing the operations of port and marina facilities.
The tourism and marine outreach sector has featured proposals such as A Cádiz a Vela, which suggests cultural itineraries on a sailboat using augmented reality and citizen science, and A Toda Vela – Sea Starlight, focused on nautical astrotourism combined with navigation and scientific outreach. In the biotechnological segment, Eledan Blue has presented its method for transforming brown algae into commercially valuable bioproducts, while Flavoóm has described its circular economy model for producing food from agricultural surpluses and marine components.
Digitalization and operational technologies have been represented by Flitly, with a platform for booking nautical tourism experiences, and BeZhas, which uses blockchain systems and artificial intelligence for validating business assets. In the underwater environment, Aquavis has introduced a visual assistance system for professional diving with sonar technology, and EONSEA has presented robotic inspection solutions for submerged infrastructures.
Robotics and environmental management have completed the showcase with Robotia, specialized in automated monitoring of hydraulic infrastructures; Environmental Consultant Trafalgar, focused on natural capital management; Levante, dedicated to the development of autonomous underwater vehicles for the restoration of coastal habitats; Regattia, with an artificial intelligence system for analyzing racing sailors' navigation data; and Laboratorio Azul, which has formulated a sunscreen with marine-origin ingredients aimed at ecosystem protection.
The development of the day has combined public presentations with networking spaces and individual interviews between entrepreneurs and financing agents, allowing for a technical analysis of each proposal's viability and capital requirements.
The Blue Core project has received 85% co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), integrated into the Multi-Regional Operational Program of Spain 2021-2027, specifically under the criteria of the priority aimed at high-tech incubators for digital and smart transition.
