Port of San Diego’s Blue Economy Incubator Grows to 14 Companies with PortXchange

The Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners has approved a new Blue Economy Incubator (BEI) pilot project. As a leader of the region’s blue economy, the Port established its Blue Economy Incubator in 2016 as a launch pad for sustainable, ocean-based technology ventures. This latest addition marks the 14th pilot project in the BEI since its inception and is another bold step toward building a resilient, sustainable and innovative blue economy that serves the San Diego region by creating a new pipeline of ocean-positive businesses. 

PortXchange is an award-winning for-profit business committed to transforming port operations through digital innovation and sustainability. Their product, EmissionInsider Carbon Insights Suite, is an emissions and reporting platform providing real-time emissions intelligence that helps ports improve operational efficiency, reduce vessel emissions, and accelerate decarbonization through data-driven decision making. The EmissionInsider platform has been recognized as one of Europe’s leading digital innovations for port decarbonization. This type of technology complements the Port’s decarbonization objectives as outlined in the Maritime Clean Air Strategy (MCAS) allowing the Port to review emissions data from vessels, trucks, rail and other types of logistics equipment. The Board of Port Commissioners approved a $300,000 agreement with PortXchange in exchange for waived license fees for its streamlined emissions data collection, integration, analysis, and reporting platform for two years and revenue shares of up to $1.8 million over time. 

“The Port of San Diego’s Blue Economy Incubator is about turning promising ocean-forward technologies into practical solutions that benefit our region, our environment and the maritime industry,” said Chair Ann Moore, Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners. “By working with PortXchange, we are piloting a data-driven tool to help us better understand and reduce vessel-related emissions while advancing the goals of our Maritime Clean Air Strategy. This pilot reflects the Port’s continued commitment to innovation, clean air and a more sustainable future for San Diego Bay.” 

"We are truly proud to partner with the Port of San Diego, a port that has long set the standard for environmental leadership in the United States," said Sjoerd de Jager, PortXchange Co-Founder and Managing Director. "Decarbonization is the defining challenge of our time, and moments like these remind us why we do what we do. With EmissionInsider, we’re helping ports better understand emissions from ships and other outside operations they don’t directly control, so they can take informed action to reduce air pollution and advance decarbonization. This is exactly the kind of partnership that moves the maritime industry forward." 

To date, the Board of Port Commissioners has approved a total of 14 agreements with early-stage companies, including one re-investment, to launch innovative pilot projects. Aside from the newest addition to the BEI, the following are active BEI projects:

• ECOncrete: ECOncrete is a for-profit company developing nature-inclusive coastal infrastructure that enhances marine biodiversity while strengthening shoreline protection. Its proprietary COASTALOCK tide pool armor units provide an ecological alternative to traditional riprap by stabilizing shorelines and creating habitat that mimics natural tide pools. In a two-year pilot project launched in 2020, COASTALOCK units doubled species richness and abundance, increased native biodiversity, and produced twice the biomass compared to conventional shoreline armoring. The technology demonstrates how coastal protection infrastructure can improve climate resilience while restoring local ecosystems and has received multiple international recognitions, including the IAPH Sustainability Award, the Atlantic Project Award, and the 2024 Climate Leadership Award for Innovative Partnership.

• Lux Bio: Lux Bio is an early-stage company pioneering a safer, cleaner alternative to conventional glow sticks. Glow sticks are a long-standing source of marine pollution and an everyday tool used in fishing, emergency response, defense, and public events. Lux Bio’s product replaces toxic chemicals and single-use plastics with a bioluminescent, non-toxic, and ocean-biodegradable lighting solution. For the Port of San Diego, investing in Lux Bio supports its core mission to protect the bay’s health while advancing practical innovation that serves working waterfront industries and public safety needs.

• VoltSafe: VoltSafe is an early-stage electrification company bringing next-generation marina shore power and smart marina technology to San Diego Bay. VoltSafe aims to make the Port’s marinas safer and more efficient with their new shore power system that ditches the traditional pronged plug and replaces it with a magnetic connection. Magnetic technology reduces the risk of electrical shocks, corrosion, and other hazards that come with water and power mixing. The system also comes with smart software that gives marina operators a real-time look at what’s happening at each slip – from power usage and disconnections to leaks and peak demand.

• MarineLabs: MarineLabs is a scale-up coastal intelligence company specializing in providing real-time coastal domain awareness and climate resilience data from sensor nodes that can help the Port make informed decisions about its coastal resilience projects and operations. MarineLabs’ technology focuses on providing persistent wave, wind, and wake data above the water’s surface and complements another BEI company, HyperKelp, whose buoy platforms collect data on underwater noise and water chemistry. This company’s pilot project was approved by the Board in May 2025.

• HyperKelp Inc: HyperKelp is an early-stage company specializing in the custom development of smart buoy platforms (known as Kelp Smart Buoy). The buoy platforms can collect and aggregate underwater data in near real-time and display results on an online dashboard. This technology monitors underwater noise levels, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, and water quality. This project has earned local and national news coverage including a segment on Spectrum News 1.

• Sunken Seaweed: Sunken Seaweed, an early-stage aquaculture company led by two marine ecologists, joined the Port’s BEI to demonstrate the feasibility of seaweed aquaculture in San Diego Bay. Sunken Seaweed established a seaweed hatchery at San Diego State University’s Coastal and Marine Institute Laboratory and installed their submerged seaweed pilot farm using Port docks and piers. Since 2018, the company has been successfully cultivating, out planting, growing, monitoring, and harvesting several species of seaweed native to Southern California. Beyond commercialization, results from the pilot project help assess and quantify seaweed aquaculture’s multiple co-benefits, from carbon sequestration and bioremediation to improving water quality and ecosystem productivity. In 2022, the Port reinvested in an expansion of Sunken Seaweed's pilot which enables the company to build and continue its research in San Diego Bay, while expanding operations to Humboldt Bay where they benefit from shoreside facilities to help them reach market scale. This project was featured in the TODAY Show’s Earth Week coverage for NBC Climate in April 2023.

• San Diego Bay Aquaculture: Since 2017, San Diego Bay Aquaculture is testing if a shellfish nursery, called a FLUPSY (Floating Upweller System), can be effective in helping address a coast-wide shellfish seed shortage. The FLUPSY is a floating barge that circulates water through compartments or bins holding shellfish, in this case oysters, as they grow from about the size of a red pepper flake to about the size of a quarter. After being in the FLUPSY, the shellfish are transported to a farm where they grow to market size. The project was one of two BEI projects featured in the TODAY Show’s Earth Week coverage for NBC Climate. 

The Port of San Diego is committed to the development of a sustainable ocean economy and to exploring new opportunities that deliver multiple social, environmental, and economic co-benefits to the Port and the region. In exchange for funding or in-kind support provided to launch the pilot projects, the Port receives royalty from the businesses’ operations or technology. To date, the Port has committed nearly $3.3 million in funding, has attracted millions in outside funding including federal and state dollars for blue economy initiatives, provided access and use of Port-owned property, and assisted with obtaining all necessary regulatory and operational permits, coordinated the installation of pilot projects, and collaborated on marketing and communications.  

Throughout the program, the Port has received multiple awards recognizing its unique approach to port-based blue economy innovation through pilot project facilitation and has been recognized by state and federal agencies, industry, and academia for providing pathways for the sustainable ocean-based innovation and blue technology in the region. Learn more about the Port of San Diego’s BEI and read the latest highlights report at portofsandiego.org/blueeconomy.