Sectors
Marine & Blue Economy
Marine and Blue Economy encompasses innovation in areas from sustainable aquaculture and fisheries to maritime transport and offshore renewable energy. These themes reflect the sector’s growing influence as oceans are critical to both economic prosperity and environmental health.
Grant funding for Marine & Blue Economy
Organisations working in Marine and Blue Economy innovations can access grant funding, from improving the adoption of new ideas to solutions for ocean sustainability.
Venturenomix understands the Marine and Blue Economy sector, including opportunities across Innovate UK programmes, Horizon Europe, and wider UK and European funding schemes that support sustainable ocean innovation and blue growth.
Grant funding has several core benefits:
- Non-dilutive funding provides immediate capital to scale operations and support investment in new marine technology.
- De-risks early-stage development, enabling organisations to test and validate solutions in real-world environments.
- Encourages partnerships across industry, universities, and government to drive shared innovation outcomes.
- Supports technologies that improve ocean health, biodiversity protection, and climate resilience.
Funding in the UK
In the UK there is growing support for non-dilutive R&D funding as seen by the recent partnership between Innovate UK and Department for Transport who have invested £30 million in innovation grant programmes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.
Funding in the EU
Europe has also begun maritime Missions in – particular the “Restore Our Ocean and Waters” initiative, which, driven by Horizon Europe, is set to fund between €1m-€8m per project to help restore the health of ocean, seas, and inland waters by 2030. Furthermore, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) have supported the development of fisheries and wider blue economy sectors.
Success Stories
Marine & Blue Economy themes for grant funding
These are the most prominent themes for UK and European R&D grant funding within the growing Marine and Blue Economy sector:
- Marine Renewable Energy: Technologies that harness ocean resources for clean energy generation, including offshore wind, tidal, wave, and floating energy systems.
- Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture: Innovations that improve productivity and resilience while protecting marine ecosystems, including smart aquaculture systems and sustainable fishing practices.
- Marine Robotics and Autonomous Systems: Advanced technologies for underwater exploration, monitoring, inspection, and maintenance, including autonomous underwater vehicles and AI-driven sensing systems.
- Blue Bioeconomy and Marine Biotechnology: Development of marine-based biological resources for high-value products such as pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, enzymes, and sustainable chemicals.
- Marine Environmental Monitoring and Climate Adaptation: Solutions that track ocean health, biodiversity, and climate impacts, supporting coastal resilience and ecosystem restoration.
Marine & Blue Economy funding programmes and funders
| Programme | Funder | Grant value | Stage | Who can apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK funding | ||||
| Sector competitions, e.g. decarbonisation, offshore renewable energy, clean maritime | Innovate UK | Varies by competition | Feasibility to demonstration | UK businesses |
| Innovation Loans | Innovate UK | Up to £5m | Late-stage, pre-market | UK SMEs |
| Growth Catalyst | Innovate UK | Up to £2m grant + equity | Scale-up | UK SMEs with investor backing |
| European funding | ||||
| Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters | Horizon Europe | €1m–€8m per project | Research to demonstration | Consortia, incl. UK |
| Collaborative calls for marine, climate and ocean technologies | Horizon Europe | Varies, often multi-million | Collaborative R&D | Consortia, incl. UK |
| EIC Pathfinder | European Innovation Council | Up to €4m | Early-stage research (TRL 1–4) | Consortia, incl. UK |
| EIC Transition | European Innovation Council | Up to €2.5m + €50k booster grants | Validation (TRL 4–6) | Single applicants or consortia, incl. UK |
| EIC Accelerator | European Innovation Council | €500k–€2.5m grant + up to €10m equity | Scale-up | SMEs (UK: grant only) |
| Eurostars | EUREKA | Varies by country | Collaborative R&D | SMEs in an international consortium |
| Innowwide market feasibility | EUREKA | €60k | Market feasibility | Single applicant with international subcontractors |
| European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) | European Commission, via national authorities | Varies by call | Sustainable fisheries, aquaculture and marine ecosystems | Organisations in EU member states (UK not eligible) |
| Other funding options are also available. Grant values are indicative and vary by call. | ||||
Winning Grant Funding for Marine & Blue Economy
‘If you are developing an innovative solution in Marine and Blue Economy, Venturenomix can help you identify, position, and secure the most suitable UK and European grant funding opportunities.’
Sophie Glaser-Deruelle
Blue Economy Sector Expert
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