The Washington State Department of Commerce, Port of Seattle and WeWork Labs have combined forces to open the new Maritime Blue Innovation Accelerator.

Eleven companies were accepted into the inaugural program. These participating startups will benefit from four months of intense programming, supported by a network of mentors and advisors as well as leaders from Washington’s maritime industry.

The maritime industry has been an important anchor for Washington’s economy for more than a century. The maritime sector employs nearly 70,000 workers and generates more than $21 billion in revenue. The new maritime startup accelerator will give new ideas in the industry a boost.

“I could not be more excited about this because it’s an extension of the basic value system of the state of Washington,” said Governor Jay Inslee, pointing to other innovation in other key sectors in the state.

“We knew from our conversations around the globe that there are entrepreneurs and investors ready to take advantage of the blue economy as it’s growing exponentially in this next decade,” said Joshua Berger, Maritime Sector Lead for Gov. Inslee and board chair for Washington Maritime Blue.

Following are the startups in the inaugural class:

  • Beam Reach (Seattle): Catalyzes research and education about bioacoustics and underwater noise pollution within the habitat of endangered orcas.
  • Discovery Health MD (Seattle): Offers a suite of services to improve health at ever stage of a mariner’s career, reduce an employer’s risk exposure, and alleviate the fear and anxiety of providing medical care at sea.
  • ecoSPEARS (Florida): Provides clean tech solutions company utilizing green, NASA-developed environmental technology for cost-effective, sustainable, and permanent extraction and destruction of persistent environmental toxins.
  • EQULL (Seattle): The company is transforming the port drayage industry with a digital platform that directly connects Truck Owner Operators and Shippers, automating the end-to-end process.
  • Net Your Problem (Seattle): Provides fishing gear recycling services to fishermen and fishing companies, which is upcycled into raw materials that can be used in new products.
  • OneTank (Seattle): Provides the lowest cost, simplest compliant ballast water treatment system for tank ship aft peak tanks and vessels with one or a few ballast tanks.
  • OneForNeptune (U.S.): Developing healthy, high-protein snack foods made from sustainable seafood products.
  • Pure Watercraft (Seattle): Develops high-performance electric outboard motors and battery packs to enable a new era of enjoyable, accessible, environmentally-friendly boating.
  • SPBES (Vancouver, B.C.): Provides high power lithium ion energy storage to hybridize or electrify heavy industrial equipment.
  • Freeboard (Seattle): An environmental solution provider whose core technology is an innovative engine exhaust gas treatment system.
  • eOceans (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia): Developing data and analytical software to make sure ocean science can keep pace with business, society and ocean change.

Read more about the new accelerator in Geekwire.