Services for Innovation in the Blue Economy
The Blue Hub brings together infrastructure, expertise, innovation programmes and market intelligence to help stakeholders in the blue economy develop, test, validate and scale up solutions.
One ecosystem, multiple entry points
I want to access a laboratory or testing facility
Gain access to laboratories, equipment, pilot sites and technical services.
I want to develop an idea
Get support to shape, validate and expand your project.
I want to tackle a challenge
Set a challenge and find partners, technologies or solutions.
I WANT TO GAIN market insights
Explore data, trends and investment insights to make better decisions.
Infrastructure marketplace
Access research facilities, equipment, test sites, laboratories and specialist services across the entire Hub Azul network.
The Hub Azul Marketplace helps businesses, start-ups, researchers and public sector organisations to discover and access the technical resources needed to develop, validate and scale blue economy solutions.
What you can do
- Find out about available infrastructure and services
- Search by value chain, location, organisation or type of capacity
- Identify laboratories, pilot plants, test sites and specialist equipment
- Contact the owners of the relevant infrastructure directly
- Browse specific catalogues by sector within the Blue Economy
research equipment
Laboratories, test facilities, pilot sites and technical assets for innovation in the Blue Economy.
Technical Support Services
Specialist support for analysis, prototyping, monitoring, validation and applied research.
SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Access to scientific, technological and operational expertise across the entire Hub Azul network.
Value creation
Structured pathways to take Blue Economy ideas from concept through to validation, growth and market readiness.
Hub Azul supports innovators at different stages of their innovation journey, through Ideation, Acceleration and Venture Building.
INITIAL PHASE
Ideation
Collaborative sessions to turn blue economy challenges into validated concepts, involving researchers, companies, start-ups and partners from the ecosystem.
Explore the Idea →
GROWTH PHASE
Acceleration
Programmes designed to support start-ups in validating their solutions, accessing mentors and preparing for market entry.
Explore Acceleration →
DEEP TECH
VENTURE BUILDING
Support for transforming research and technologies into new businesses, intellectual property mapping, customer discovery and the spin-off process.
Explore Venture Building →
Open Innovation Platform
A digital space to link the challenges of the Blue Economy with ideas, specialist knowledge and opportunities for collaboration.
Hub Azul’s Open Innovation Platform supports the development of innovation challenges, the submission of ideas, evaluation processes and collaboration between companies, start-ups, researchers, mentors and other stakeholders in the ecosystem.
KEY FUNCTIONS
- Launching and managing innovation challenges
- Gather ideas and solutions from the ecosystem
- Support assessment and selection processes
- Connecting innovators with mentors and technical experts
- To facilitate collaboration between businesses, research centres, start-ups and public sector organisations
Innovation Challenges
Set strategic challenges and invite start-ups, researchers, companies and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to put forward solutions.
Network of Specialist Mentors
To connect innovators with mentors, experts, researchers, entrepreneurs and industry specialists.
Programmes and acceleration
To support selected projects through structured innovation pathways, from the validation of the idea through to market readiness.
MARKET INTELLIGENCE platform
Data, analysis and insights to understand investment, innovation and market dynamics in the Blue Economy.
Hub Azul develops market intelligence content to help stakeholders in the ecosystem identify trends, understand investment flows, map out opportunities and support strategic decision-making.
Key services
- Analysis of investment trends
- Insights into sectors and value chains
- Ecosystem or sector mapping
- Analysis of start-ups and investors
- Customised reports to support strategic decision-making
BLUE COMPASS
Hub Azul’s investment report and market analysis, covering funding trends, emerging sectors and innovation dynamics.
Customised Strategic Reports
Bespoke analyses for businesses, investors and public bodies seeking to understand specific markets within the Blue Economy.
ECOSYSTEM DATA AND TRENDS
Insights based on ecosystem mapping, start-up data, investment activity and sector analysis.
Value Chain Catalogues
A practical guide to exploring resources, services and partners by sector within the Blue Economy.
Hub Azul develops value-chain-based catalogues to bring together, in one place, relevant infrastructure, services, skills and organisations. Each catalogue helps companies, start-ups, researchers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to identify opportunities, partners and available resources.
Download this catalogue
Save a formatted PDF version of this catalogue for offline reading and sharing.
PDF · A4 · English · March 2026
LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT ENTRY POINT?
At the Blue Hub, you’ll find the right starting point for accessing infrastructure, partners, market knowledge and strategic support.