MassChallenge

News

MassChallenge Announces Partnership with the Office of Naval Research, Northeast Tech Bridge, and 401 Tech Bridge

We are pleased to announce our partnership with the Office of Naval Research, Northeast Tech Bridge, and 401 Tech Bridge. This collaboration cements Blue Tech as a new practice within the context of the Safety and Security track that runs inside our US Early Stage Accelerator Program. This is a great opportunity for Blue Tech entrepreneurs to meet experts and mentors and understand the needs of commercial and Navy markets.

The mission of the Safety and Security track is to support “dual-use” startups who are focused on developing solutions that are solving our most pressing national security challenges. The goals of this specialized support are to:

  • Foster the entrepreneurial spirit within the DOD and Prime Contractors
  • Accelerate engagement, impact, innovation and speed to tech transfer
  • Deepen startup awareness of industry needs and challenges
  • Provided startup teams with the education, connections, and resources to effectively work with government and defense-focused partners
  • Drive increased SBIR awards to MassChallenge supported startups

 
The Blue Tech challenge areas that will be prioritized for consideration in 2022 include:

Shipyard Support

  • Maintenance/Sustainment/Readiness
  • Modernization

Transform Digital Capability

  • Digital Engineering
  • AI/Machine Learning
  • Additive Manufacturing
  • Cybersecurity industry needs and challenges

The intent behind a focus on blue tech is to accelerate the tools and technologies that could transform how we understand and leverage the power of the ocean. This sector highlights a new focus area for the Safety and Security track that will help select startups from across our US-based programs explore, develop, and deploy new technologies that will help us harness the the ocean.

The martime industry presents innovators with huge economic opportunity and and the opportunity to meaningfully address climate change, protect our coastal resources and bolster our defenses.  It is MassChallenge’s goal to bring together maritime leaders with startups that have the ideas and tools needed to deepen our use of the ocean to support early-stage startups with a technical competency that can be applied to:

  • Oceanography: Focus on sensors, sensing, modeling, big data, and data analytics
  • Autonomy: Focus on platform autonomy/functionality and position, navigation, and timing (PNT) both above and below the surface
  • Connectivity: Focus on connected devices and improving communication between devices above and below the surface
  • Sustainability: Focus on power, renewables, costal resiliency, and aquaculture

Participants accepted into this year’s Early Stage program will have access to specific experts in the Blue Tech space including government organizations, research and development centers, and innovation groups.

In 2019, with support from MITRE we initiated a Blue Tech pilot run out of our Rhode Island office. The discipline has since seen great traction and we ran our first standalone Blue Tech Accelerator program in late 2021 with the support of 401 Tech Bridge and funding from the EDA. To formalize a Blue Tech practice inside our Safety and Security work is a significant step in harnessing the collective opportunity the maritime industry presents the world. 

To be considered as a Blue Tech Program you must apply to the US Early Stage Program.  

APPLY HERE.  (You must first register as a startup to proceed to the application.)

NOTE:  Applications close on April 20!