Strategic Initiatives action area

Gulf of Maine Ventures

Building a resilient, modernized 21st-century marine economy by supporting and investing in high-impact companies.

Gulf of Maine Ventures is the business development and impact investment arm of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Starting in Portland, ME, we bridge the gap between innovative, blue economy businesses and the capital, technical knowledge, and networks needed to help them grow.

We catalyze solutions to global ocean challenges by creating, scaling, and investing in innovative blue economy companies.

Create: We incubate ideas into commercial businesses, both from within GMRI and sometimes externally with partners.
Scale: We draw from our deep industry knowledge, science and business technical advisory, and large network to help start-ups succeed.
Invest: Our team includes experienced scientists, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists, and we partner with founders to help their startups reach maximum financial and impact returns.

Our Work

Explore our early work, including new ventures, workforce efforts, and strategic partnerships.

Our Portfolio

Our team engages in a mix of work that spans traditional economic development, company creation, technical assistance, business strategy development and hands-on mentoring of select …
Investors

We are partnering with Bold Ocean Ventures Management LLC to finance ocean-related businesses that meet our ocean and climate sustainability goals.
Our Partnerships

Building strong partnerships within our region around blue economy innovation continues to be a core strategy for us, and we are pleased with our growing …
Blue Economy Innovation Corridor

We are combining the technical expertise of GMRI with business formation and support services to forge a pathway for Blue Economy entrepreneurs and start ups, …
True Fin: Premium Gulf of Maine Seafood

True Fin was founded to realize the maximum potential for seafood from the New England region.
New England Marine Monitoring

New England Marine Monitoring is an electronic monitoring (EM) services company that provides video review, on-vessel technical support, and program design service to New England …
Scallop Aquaculture Initiative

In January 2021, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the University of Maine, and Coastal Enterprises, Inc. convened to form the Scallop Aquaculture Initiative (SAI), …