Blue Innovation Symposium

What Blue Innovation Symposium does

Blue Innovation Symposium (BIS) is a non-profit annual conference founded in 2015 in Newport, Rhode Island, that convenes the blue-technology and ocean-industry ecosystem — including marine-tech startups, investors, defense agencies, academic institutions, and government stakeholders — for education, networking, and investor-startup matchmaking. The organization produces a single flagship symposium each March, with more than 400 attendees drawn from over 30 countries and a programming mix of keynote panels, pitch sessions, and curated one-on-one meetings. In 2023, BIS merged with the Blue Venture Investment Summit, consolidating investor-facing activities under the symposium brand and strengthening the startup-to-capital funnel.

BIS monetizes primarily through tiered corporate sponsorship packages and attendee registration, with a 40-plus sponsor roster spanning defense primes, marine technology vendors, government economic-development agencies, and academic partners. The business model is event-anchored: a single annual in-person gathering (with a virtual format adopted in 2021 during COVID-19) supplemented by year-round brand and community stewardship. Strategic partnerships with the Government of Canada, MITRE BlueTech, the U.S. Navy (NAVSEA, NUWC, ONR), the U.S. Coast Guard, NATO, the University of Rhode Island, and co-hosts 401 Tech Bridge and COVE indicate a deliberate platform expansion into defense, international, and academic segments. The 2026 symposium is scheduled for March 4-5, 2026, marking the event's second decade.

Name

Blue Innovation Symposium

Legal name

Blue Innovation Symposium

Website

https://blueinnovationsymposium.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Blue Innovation Symposium is a non-profit annual conference in Newport, Rhode Island, serving blue-technology startups, investors, defense agencies, and academic partners with networking, education, and investor-startup matchmaking.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Technology Conferences & Events

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional & Association Conferences (MPAGAGAB)

Keywords

• Marine technology conference
• Blue economy events
• Industry symposiums
• Ocean technology networking
• Investor matchmaking forums

Headquarters

HQ city

Newport

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship and Exhibit Fees: The Blue Innovation Symposium generates revenue through tiered sponsorship packages that allow companies to profile their companies, products, and services to a highly targeted audience of marine technology industry professionals and investors. Multiple tiered sponsorship packages are available.
2. Attendee Registration Fees: Revenue generated from delegate registrations for the annual symposium, with early-bird rates available for attendees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Blue Innovation Symposium produces an annual three-day marine technology conference held in Newport, Rhode Island, bringing together over 400 participants for education, networking, and matchmaking in the Blue Economy sector. The organization complements the main conference with tiered sponsorship/exhibit packages, the co-located Blue Venture Investment Summit, and an archive of past event downloads.

Product overview

Blue Innovation Symposium is an annual marine technology conference that serves as the premier event in New England for connecting the marine technology industry. The organization operates as a single unified offering—the annual BIS conference—rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The conference provides education, networking, and matchmaking opportunities for over 400 participants across three days, with associated programs including sponsorship/exhibit opportunities, the Blue Venture Investment Summit, and access to past event downloads. The product portfolio consists of the annual conference event itself, tiered sponsorship packages, and conference program materials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Blue Innovation Symposium (BIS) Annual Conference Annual marine technology conference held in Newport, RI, bringing together over 400 participants for three days of education, networking, and matchmaking in the Blue Economy sector.
• BIS Sponsorship/Exhibit Packages Tiered sponsorship and exhibit packages that allow companies to profile their products and services to a highly targeted marine technology audience at the annual conference.
• Blue Venture Investment Summit Investment-focused program run in conjunction with the BIS conference that connects blue tech startups with investors, mentors, and funds.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 400 participants annually for three-day events
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Blue Venture ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Blue Venture Forum is the parent organization that operates the Blue Innovation Symposium. The forum creates an efficient and accessible platform to help blue technology firms connect and showcase their new technologies to potential partners and investors.
• Government of CanadacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Consulate General of Canada to the United States in Boston has partnered with the Blue Innovation Symposium multiple times to deliver blue tech focused and cross-border conferences, providing international perspective and support.
• Boston EngineeringcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of Rising Tide Awards and consistent supporter of the Blue Innovation Symposium, providing recognition for significant contributions to the marine technology industry.
• Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium (UTIC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUTIC is a consortium partner that works with the symposium to support undersea technology innovation and has announced scholarship programs aimed at inspiring the next generation of undersea innovators.
• 401 Tech BridgecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner401 Tech Bridge accelerates the regional blue economy through blue tech innovation and partners with the symposium to coordinate panels and bring tech scouting and experimentation programs.
• MITRE BlueTechmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMITRE BlueTech Lab is involved in blue technology research and collaborates with the symposium on panels discussing defense innovation and technology transfer.
• Marine & Oceanographic Technology Network (MOTN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOTN is a co-organizer and founding partner of the symposium. Tobias Stapleton, President of MOTN, serves as Director of the Blue Innovation Symposium and co-founder.
• Teledyne MarinemajorGTM or Marketing PartnerPremier sponsor of the symposium. Teledyne Marine manufactures industry-leading solutions for harsh underwater environments including instrumentation, imaging, and unmanned vehicles.
• Center for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship (COVE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOVE is a key partner in the blue tech ecosystem, providing flash talk opportunities for startups and participating in panel discussions on creating opportunities in the blue economy.
• MassChallenge BluemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMassChallenge Blue Track accelerator program partners with the symposium to showcase blue technology startups through flash talks, including companies like Jaia Robotics.
• Wyndham Newport HotelminorOthersPrimary venue host for the annual Blue Innovation Symposium events, with room blocks reserved for BIS guests.
• Innovate NewportminorOthersContact address and sneak peek event venue for the Blue Innovation Symposium at 513 Broadway, Newport, RI.
• Newport, RIminorOthersThe city of Newport, Rhode Island hosts the annual Blue Innovation Symposium events.
• University of Rhode IslandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerURI is a key academic partner, with involvement in panels on the blue economy, R&D programs, and the RI Blue Economy Technology Cluster initiative.
• Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNUWC Newport is a key defense partner involved in panels on Navy tech transfer, defense innovation, and undersea technology development.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Marine Technology Society (MTS): Professional society for marine technologists that organizes conferences, publications, and student programs. Comparable as a membership-based organization curating marine technology events, with overlap through MOTN (BIS co-organizer) and MTS co-sponsorship of OCEANS.

Broad incumbents

• Offshore Technology Conference (OTC): One of the world's largest offshore energy and subsea technology events. Broadly comparable as a major ocean-industry conference with deep sponsor base, though OTC skews to offshore oil & gas and is much larger than the blue-tech-focused BIS.
• Sea-Air-Space (Navy League): Large maritime and undersea defense exhibition hosted by the Navy League. Comparable as a venue where defense and marine technology firms pursue partnerships and showcase innovations, overlapping BIS's NUWC and defense-tech ecosystem.

Direct peers

• OCEANS Conference (IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society / Marine Technology Society): Flagship annual academic and industry conference for the ocean engineering community organized by IEEE OES and MTS. Directly comparable in audience (marine technologists, researchers, and blue-tech companies) and program structure, though typically more academic/scientific in tone than BIS's startup-investor focus.
• BlueTech Week: Multi-day conference focused on the Blue Economy and water-technology innovation. Directly comparable as a Blue Economy–themed event with strong investor and startup participation, overlapping BIS's matchmaking use case.
• Oceanology International: Long-running global ocean technology exhibition and conference serving marine science, subsea engineering, and ocean measurement communities. Directly comparable as a large-scale marine-technology conference and exhibition organizer that competes for similar sponsors and attendees, but at a significantly larger international scale.
• Ocean Exchange: Blue Economy accelerator and pitch competition that connects ocean-focused startups with investors and corporates. Directly comparable in its startup-investor matchmaking focus within the marine technology vertical.

Regional players

• Ocean Business: UK-based biennial ocean technology exhibition and training event. Comparable as a focused marine technology exhibition with an instrument and startup showcase, but serving primarily European audiences rather than North American blue-tech firms.
• Subsea Americas: Regional conference focused on subsea inspection, repair, and maintenance (IRM) and offshore intervention. Comparable in subsea-technology programming and audience, though primarily serving Gulf of Mexico / Americas offshore operators rather than New England's blue-tech startups.

Others

• 401 Tech Bridge: Rhode Island–based blue tech nonprofit accelerator and ecosystem builder that partners with BIS. Comparable as a regional blue-economy ecosystem organization but is an existing BIS partner rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/bluesymposium
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCBJ8fW2eCjBxcZdQ2uOPmgw
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheBlueInnovationSymposium
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-blue-innovation-symposium

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blue Innovation Symposium