Top 10 Ocean Tech Startups

While most parts of the world have been visited, in one way or another, by humans, the majority of the ocean is yet to be explored, making it the “last unexplored frontier on our planet”.

In fact, as of June 2024, only about 26% of the ocean floor has been mapped, meaning that there is simply still so much that we don’t know.

The depths of the ocean are full of mystery, and breaking this barrier would provide us with knowledge and information that is crucial to the progress of humanity in several key ways.

In addition to that, the ocean also holds enormous power and potential, so finding ways to harness and utilise this power is almost certainly going to play a big role in the future of ocean tech.

So, what’s standing in the way of our exploration of the ocean?

We’re going to dive into the world of ocean tech, so to speak, discussing what ocean tech is and how it can help us collect marine data, improve our ability to understand and map the ocean floor, contribute to environmental conservation and more.

From there, we’ll get into the top 10 ocean tech startups that are poised to challenge our understanding of the ocean and find innovative ways to use the power of the sea for good.

 

What is Ocean Tech?

 

Ocean tech is a field of advanced technology that is intended to help experts explore the vast depths of the ocean, gather data and organise it such a way that makes it useful. In another sense, ocean tech can also include innovative technology used for environmental purposes or to combat the negative effects of global warming.

The purpose of ocean tech is to replace human data collection and processes that are, comparatively, significantly more limited in terms of scope.

Collecting this data about the ocean is an important project that has the potential to influence a plethora of industries and other endeavours. This includes things like assessing the ocean floor for subsea gas pipelines, conducting further research into sea life or contributing to sustainability and environmental initiatives.

The more we know, the more possibilities there are for the future of humanity.

This means different things for various companies who are attempting to improve ocean tech in a multitude of ways, but in the most basic sense, exploratory ocean tech is about using autonomous robots to explore faraway, potentially dangerous parts of the ocean to gather important data.

By using robots and other non-human hardware, experts are able to eliminate human limitations. This includes the danger factor, human mortality, the physical ability to venture that far into the ocean, the ability to properly collect the data and more.

It’s not just about robots, however. Ocean tech can also include hardware that works in conjunction with the power of the ocean to achieve specific objectives, like generating power.

In addition to exploratory technology and other hardware, however, ocean tech also includes the software that is used to organise and evaluate the data collected. Without this software, this big data would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to be analysed by humans.

In terms of marine conservation efforts, ocean tech may include a broad range of different types of technology, ranging from things that are designed to protect coral reefs and other marine life to researching the production and growth of ocean-based food like seaweed.

 

How Can Technology Improve Ocean Floor Mapping and Conservation?

 

Essentially, technology can allow experts to explore places that have been out of reach in the past due to the fact that humans simply cannot venture that far as a result of safety concerns and mere physical ability. In addition, ocean tech can do it more quickly, more consistently and more accurately.

By using technology in place of humans, the industry is able to remove safety risks, as humans no longer need to be active on the ground. Indeed, technology is progressing in such a way that allows robots to have complete autonomy, in some cases, meaning that they don’t need to be manned or monitored as they have in the past.

Ocean tech allows for ocean exploration to be dramatically increased in terms of scale, sending out fleets of autonomous robots to venture into never-before-seen corners of the ocean and gather data quickly, efficiently and accurately.

Furthermore, advanced technology can be used to protect marine life and assist broader conservation efforts as well as efforts to combat climate change.

 

Top 10 Ocean Tech Startups

 

Let’s have a look at the top 10 ocean tech startups that are working to change the world by exploring and protecting the vast expanses of the ocean.

 

1. Terradepth

 

 

Founded by Joe Wolfel and Judson Kauffman in 2018, Terradepth is an Austin-based provider of ocean data and management solutions.

To achieve their goal of gaining a comprehensive understanding of the ocean, they aim to achieve vertical integration. That is, the company will need to own and control the entire supply chain, including suppliers, distributors and retailers of all related hardware with a special focus on robotics.

The real focus of Terradepth’s technology is on the autonomy of their robots. The reason that this is so important is that the need for human supervision is both costly in terms of labour as well as dangerous.

Indeed, robots are also capable of more than humans in a plethora of ways, and they’re able to stay out for longer than humans are physically capable of, allowing for more data to be collected.

Their entire operation provides more opportunity for scaling, something that simply isn’t possible when human intervention is required. This means that by producing large numbers of these exploratory robots, Terradepth can deploy massive fleets across the ocean floor.

They aim to use their highly advanced data visualisation platform, Absolute Ocean, to analyse the data collected.

 

 

2. Arc Marine

 

 

Arc Marine, founded in 2015 in the UK, is a conservation-based ocean tech company that is working to improve large-scale coral reef restoration projects around the world.

Their aim is to help repair the damage done to marine ecosystems largely by humans by means of building artificial coral reefs in addition to repairing existing ones. This will also contribute to enhancing biodiversity.

Committed to their environmental endeavour, Arc Marine is using plastic-free, low-carbon ocean tech to achieve their goals.

One thing that sets them apart from other conservation companies is that their technology can, in theory, be implemented by anybody. They produce “reef cubes” that function similarly to organic coral reefs, and this technology can be implemented by just about anybody, from fishermen to scientists.

 

3. Cascadia Seaweed

 

 

Cascadia seaweed has multiple objectives, including the promotion of climate action, ocean regeneration, sustainable food production and more.

To achieve these objectives, they use ocean tech to grow and cultivate seaweed that can be harvested as a healthy source of food.

By means of hypothermal processing and additional underwater kelp crop technology, this Canadian-based startup is able to grow sustainable supplies of seaweed in the ocean.

 

4. Sharksafe Barrier

 

 

Founded in South Africa in 2014, Sharksafe Barrier endeavours to use natural technological solutions to deter sharks from passing through areas where they may come into contact with humans.

The intention behind Sharksafe’s technology is to reduce the contact between people and sharks, not only allowing humans to enjoy the ocean safely but also in an effort to eliminate unnecessary fear of marine life.

To achieve this, they use biomimicry and magnet fields to simulate a kelp forest, deterring sharks in a way that is completely harmless.

 

5. Hawaiian Ocean Technologies, Inc.

 

 

Founded in 2018, Hawaiian Ocean Technologies Inc. is working on an autonomous data-gathering vessel, or sailboat as they call it, that aims to capture data and provide surveillance for marine biologists, fishermen and oceanographers.

The primary objective of their technology is to use this incredibly high-speed boat to “chase” hurricanes, observe them throughout their entire lifecycle and gather data that no other technology has been able to capture before.

This hurricane prediction technology has the potential to provide experts with more data than ever before.

 

6. Wave Swell Energy Ltd.

 

 

Utilising the raw power of the ocean’s waves, Wave Swell Energy Ltd. is an Australian ocean tech startup that is creating new possibilities for renewable energy sources.

By means of an Oscillating Water Column (OWC), electricity is generated as a result of the consistent movement of the water through the device.

Essentially, as the waves move back and forth, water flows into the OWC, up and down, creating a movement of air past a turbine, and in turn, the turbine generates electricity.

This technology is robust and involves no moving parts, making it durable and portable.

 

7. TCarta

 

 

TCarta uses highly advanced technology to accurately measure water depths in remote parts of the ocean, as well as to create a detailed map of the sea bed.

This US-based ocean tech startup was founded in 2014, and since then, it’s been able to develop scalable machine learning techniques, marine remote sensing algorithms and complex programming methods to achieve its goals.

This advanced technology has created a whole new world of possibilities in terms of being able to create coastal bathymetric maps and survey the vast expanse of the sea floor.

 

8. MARINIX Ocean Tech

 

 

Norwegian MARINIX Ocean Tech aims to generate “marine snow” in the Southern Oceans in order to initiate a photosynthesis-like process in the ocean.

Marine snow occurs as a result of organic marine material falling from the upper waters to the deep ocean below. It uses carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, resulting in carbon sinking to the depths of the ocean.

MARINIX Ocean Tech has developed technology that allows them to initiate this process of marine snow, and by means of a complex process, the idea is that this will result in a higher rate of environmental carbon to be converted to oxygen, ultimately working towards combatting the negative effects of global warming.

 

9. I4Sea

 

 

I4Sea uses complex marine technology to create weather and marine forecasts that can be used for real-life applications, including customised decision-making about external conditions, weather-related alerts and more.

Founded in the UK in 2014, this innovative startup combines advanced data collection and decision-making with the power of intelligence in order to not only provide evaluations of conditions but make decisions and assertions based on these evaluations.

 

10. Solar Duck

 

 

Looking to the future and the growing concerns around land scarcity, Solar Duck has developed technology that is able to generate solar power without taking up space on land. Rather, it makes use of the vast expanse of the ocean.

The Dutch startup aims to be the world’s leading offshore floating solar company. They aim to do so by creating technology that is robust, is able to withstand harsh weather conditions, doesn’t require much maintenance and provides options for scalable production.

 

The Future of Ocean Tech?

 

The incredible thing about ocean tech is that, just like the ocean itself, it offers vast possibilities for innovation and technology, in terms of collecting data on the ocean and mapping it; contributing to marine conservation; and ways in which the power of the ocean can be utilised for environmental purposes.

Undoubtedly, the future of ocean tech is full of enormous potential, so we’ll just have to wait and see what these startups do next.