As an exclusive media partner, environment coastal & offshore (eco) magazine presents a new partnership spotlight series, where we look back at past Ocean Exchange finalists and share brief updates on where they are now.
BlueNalu was a Finalist at Ocean Exchange in 2018. The focus of BlueNalu is to work with the seafood industry to supplement the current supply and to specifically focus on species that are overfished, primarily imported, or difficult to farm raise. As a result, they can reduce the pressure on wild fisheries, displace the need for foreign imports and enhance food security.
At the end of 2025, BlueNalu announced that they secured approximately $11 million in cash and stock proceeds. The capital will support their market introduction of cultivated bluefin tuna toro, as well as other scale-up activities. BlueNalu plans to deepen engagement in global regions such as Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Korea, the UK, and the European Union.
2024 Ocean Exchange finalist and $100,000 Neptune awardee, Oyster Heaven, created a biodegradable, climate- friendly, and low-cost “Mother Reef” with a significantly lower cost and higher yield. The reefs are deployed and built by local fishermen, thereby including local knowledge and providing new revenue streams for them. segment. In addition, Oyster Heaven sells the ecosystem services that oyster reefs provide to businesses that want to become more sustainable and manage their environmental footprint.
Since the Ocean Exchange funding in 2024, Oyster Heaven has launched multiple longterm restoration projects and has just completed the first deployment of 4 million native oysters into the Veerse Meer, the Belgian national restoration project, as well as launching Europe’s largest restoration project off the North Norfolk coast.
2021 Ocean Exchange finalist, Nature Metrics, uses eDNA from water, soil, and air samples to detect organisms—from microbes to mammals. Combined with geospatial data (satellite imagery, drones, etc.), the eDNA results provide concise and robust baseline metrics to inform decision- making by project operators. Their subscription service enables businesses to comprehensively measure, report, and disclose their nature-related impacts at scale, and drive effective biodiversity management.
Last year, the company raised $25 million in Series B funding. Their plans are to enhance their intelligence platform, AI capabilities, and eDNA solutions, setting them up for a new era of nature reporting. In addition, they launched a new AI-powered tool, Portfolio Assessment, to help corporations assess nature risk across entire site portfolios.
This feature appeared in environment coastal & offshore (eco) magazine’s 2026 issue I, to read more access the magazine here.
