Advancing Investment Access and Cooperation Across the Blue Economy

It was a great honor for Eric Le Quéré, inventor and investor behind the Le Quéré portfolio of maritime sustainability technologies, to participate as a panelist during the Funding Programmes and Investment Initiatives session on 2nd October at SeaFuture 2025 in La Spezia, Italy.

The session brought together leading organizations shaping the future of maritime finance and innovation, including BlueInvest Capital, Green Assist, EUDIS, Fórum Oceano, Travel Verse Srl, and the WestMED Initiative.

The discussions were both insightful and forward-looking, highlighting the urgent need to improve access to financing for blue economy stakeholders, particularly innovators and SMEs driving sustainable transformation within the sector.

During the session, Eric Le Quéré presented his approach to innovation and financing — a model built on simplicity, agility, and efficiency. This approach includes:
– Self-financing the early-stage R&D phases,
– Assuming initial risk to prove technological and economic viability,
– Opening capital to partners for scaling and industrial deployment.

This lean, results-driven framework ensures that each innovation is validated before seeking external investment, enabling faster, more resilient pathways to market readiness and impact.

Eric Le Quéré extended heartfelt thanks to Dr. Leonardo Manzari for his invitation and outstanding leadership within the WestMED Initiative, as well as to Axelle Salvage and Fabrice Maire for their continued dedication to strengthening Europe’s maritime cluster network.

The event also provided an excellent opportunity to connect with passionate and talented professionals, including Christelle Sapata (BlueInvest), Antonio Vincente Amendola (ICARIUS), Sofia Delgado (SeamoreTech), Alfonso Raiola (Duwo), Rui Gomes, PhD (CEIIA), Reza Karimpour and Andrea Schiaffino (Magellan Circle), and Annamaria La Civita (General Manager, Assonave; Macroeconomic and Geopolitical Studies, Fincantieri).

From UNOC3 (Nice) to Wind for Good (Saint-Nazaire), World Ocean Summit (Cascais), Blue Ocean Dome (Osaka), SeaFuture (La Spezia), and soon the Blue Africa Summit (Tanger, Morocco) — Eric Le Quéré continues to promote the technology portfolio,  and to foster meaningful cooperation across the global Blue Economy.