Bluemvmt: Revolutionizing Data Insights for a Sustainable Blue Economy
Written by Sky Laurent-Kingsley
In the face of escalating environmental challenges, Bluemvmt has emerged as a transformative force in sustainable data insights. The company's inception was fueled by founder Joe Wheeler's deep concern for the perils of overfishing, coral bleaching, acidification, pollution, and rising sea levels, among other ecological concerns.
Inspired by the Caribbean's unique perspective on the Blue Economy, which they simply call 'the economy,' Bluemvmt embarked on a mission to collaborate with the Barbados government to pursue shared blue economy objectives. Now, here in the States, they are pursuing the future of how ocean data is collected and understood. SeaAhead sat down with Bluemvmt’s Chief Technology Officer Craig Harper to learn more.
Can you tell us more about your team?
Harper: We have assembled a highly experienced team who have worked together on multiple projects over the last 30 years. Besides Joe and myself, we have support from Tom Knox, who has built four of the previous six subsea platforms in the market today and is an expert in his area of expertise. Warren Hewerdine is another fantastic product marketer and developer who has been working in and around developing hardware-based solutions surrounding GPS and oceanography for 20 years. We also have an amazing team of advisors who have helped us build our business, some of whom the BlueSwell program put us in contact with.
What are your company’s goals?
Harper: We went through many trials and tribulations when first entering BlueSwell. We were deciding between pursuing hard tech and software, so we had to pivot. Bluemvmt is now specifically focusing on becoming the only ocean data platform that's fully managed and purpose-built for sharing and analyzing climate IOT data with companies that rely on sensor-based intelligence. So, if a company is attempting to collect data and needs to understand what that data means in real-time and at scale, then Bluemvmt is the company for you. Companies can save money while working smarter, not harder, while accelerating your time to discover and develop.
Please tell us a bit about your customer discovery. Who do you want to be involved in your company?
Harper: Ideally, we see our customers as any decision maker that relies on the need to reliably derive insights from data where sensors are collecting that data. Our community consists of users primarily focused on understanding climate that are frustrated with not being able to gain access to silos of data and that find the effort overwhelming at times. These individuals work in all types of industries, from national agencies to defense, aquaculture, and offshore wind - they are researchers and developers building new and unique applications for those verticals.
What are some challenges your company has faced?
Harper: There are three primary challenges that our company faces. First, just like any startup would tell you, is access to capital. Then, in our space, it is overcoming traditional methods of operation. There are many impediments to customers' and researchers' sharing of data. Those natural inhibitors are one of the biggest problems we face. We have increased issues with researchers, engineers, and academics keeping data to themselves. Linking data together to generate new forms of understanding is the bridge that Bluemvmt is trying to build with our data platform.
The next big hurdle we face is that much of today's technology is based on protocols developed in 1979. These protocols, such as rs232, were initially created by IBM to facilitate printer communications and are now heavily relied on by many sensors to shore data transmission. This technology needs to be updated and needs to be faster. Bluemvmt has ways of accelerating these processes, so you won't have to wait seven to ten hours to receive data.
The sky is the limit once we have the data in the cloud. With Bluemvmt, you can share the data internally with your team and between teams with standards and connect you to a public library of data, like NOAA data, to support your research efforts so you can discover something new.
What is the biggest success so far?
Harper: We have had quite a few successes. So far, we have been featured in the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator's Investor Forum. We were also nominated for the 2023 Earthshot Prize. Of course, we were invited to join SeaAhead and New England Aquarium's BlueSwell Cohort IV, which has been immensely helpful to us.
How did you connect with BlueSwell?
Harper: We were recommended to apply by a colleague at a fellow bluetech company and the rest is history.
What has BlueSwell done for your company thus far?
Harper: It has been great. Specifically, they have helped us improve our product and market fit, increased our contacts with potential customers, and connected us to many incredible advisors and potential investors.
What is some advice you would give to future Cohort members?
Harper: If your company offers its services through software, you must find an advisor who knows how to build modern software. No matter your product, your company will rely on software to run. You need an advisor with a background in software, especially when selling software as a service; you need to embrace software like SaaS solutions to help facilitate operational efficiency early on. You should also consider investing in other software products, such as Slack, Gusto, and Carta, that may have an upfront cost but will save you hundreds of hours on the back end.
You must also find an advisor who can build a company from the ground up. From zero employees to several hundred. They will have invaluable advice at every stage and insight into how you can transform your company to the next level. With that, ensure that at least one of your advisors has hands-on startup experience.
Lastly, don't surround yourself with people who always say yes. Challenge yourself. You need people who say no to you because you aren't always right. Don't be afraid to pivot. Tell your story often to anyone who will hear it. Listen to everyone: customers, friends, and advisors. Think of your story as a paint-by-numbers tapestry. Each time you tell it, someone will help you fill in a new number and provide a new way to think about your vision and story. As you incorporate everyone's suggestions, your tapestry or vision will become richer until people wonder how we could live without your vision. It requires courage to modify your vision and to pivot. The more fearless and honest you are about your vision, the more successful you'll be.
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To learn more about Bluemvmt, click here.
About BlueSwell:
BlueSwell, a partnership between SeaAhead and the New England Aquarium, takes a whole-ocean approach to fighting climate change and advancing the blue economy. The program focuses on bridging gaps between innovators, ocean experts, industries, and the venture community. BlueSwell leverages SeaAhead’s bluetech domain expertise, network, and experience in building companies, and the Aquarium’s 50-plus year history of using marine science to protect the ocean and marine animals to ultimately convert ocean-focused concepts into profitable, sustainable businesses.
To learn more about BlueSwell, click here.