A three-month, cohort-based accelerator for blue economy ventures with real traction built to compress your growth timeline and get you investor-ready, fast.
who it’s for
Built for founders with something real to show.
Velocity is for traction-stage teams — a company, a product, early evidence it works — however you got here.
01
03
Registered, team in place
The company exists, and the founding team is set.
TRL 5–7
The product exists and is being tested or deployed — not yet fully scaled or commercially proven.
02
04
Evidence of traction
A working product, pilot customers, early revenue, or at minimum a validated MVP.
Ready to raise
You want speed and access — to partners, customers, and capital
FOCUS AREAS
Where your product fits.
Aquaculture & Blue Foods
Sustainable seafood, alternative proteins, and next-gen farming systems.
Coastal & Ecosystem Restoration
Blue carbon, habitat restoration, and nature-based climate solutions.
Underwater & Subsea Technologies
Solving problems beneath the surface — inspection, sensing, communication, and mapping.
Ports & Maritime Infrastructure
Port operations, marine construction, and the physical infrastructure that keeps maritime industries running.
Autonomous & Unmanned Systems
Building robots, drones, and autonomous vehicles that work in, on, or under the ocean.
Logistics, Sustainment & Supply Chain
Keeping fleets running, supply chains moving, and offshore operations on schedule.
THE SPRINT
Twelve weeks, three phases, one Demo Day.
Velocity is intensive and time-boxed by design — every week is built to compress a growth timeline that would otherwise take a year.
Weeks 1-4
Sharpen
Diagnose what's stuck, sharpen who you're selling to and how, then pressure-test the pitch.
Weeks 5-8
Connect
Warm introductions to customers and partners who can move the needle now.
Weeks 9-12
Raise
Investor-readiness coaching, culminating in Demo Day.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything built for speed and access.
Not a curriculum for learning the basics — a sprint for founders who already know them.
Intensive tailored curriculum
Tailored, time-boxed, cohort-based, and built around your traction, not a generic syllabus.
Investor-readiness coaching
Get your data room, cap table, and narrative in shape before you're in the room.
GTM & pitch sharpening
Direct, working sessions to tighten your go-to-market and your story.
Demo Day - in-person & virtual
Pitch live at an in-person Demo Day, then again at a virtual Demo Day reaching investors around the world.
Customer & partner intros
Warm introductions into the BlueStart Aotearoa and OIO industry network.
Investor Connect Day
Dedicated 1:1 sessions matching you directly with investors actively looking in your space.
key dates
Twelve weeks, mapped out.
Jul 21, 2026
Applications Open
Sep 14 - Oct 9, 2026
Applications Close
Sharpen
Aug 28, 2026
Oct 12 - Nov 11, 2026
Sep 4, 2026
Nov 9, - Dec 4, 2026
Connect
Dec 2-3, 2026
Raise
Selection
Demo Day
ready to accelerate?
APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN NOW and PLACES ARE LIMITED!
acknowledgement
Ocean Impact Organisation acknowledges Māori as tangata whenua of Aotearoa New Zealand and recognises Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the foundation for partnership. We pay our respects to mana whenua across the motu and acknowledge their enduring relationship with the moana, whenua, and taiao — and the practice of kaitiakitanga that shapes how we build a sustainable blue economy.
our partners
