Two New Hampshire startups have been chosen to participate in a program designed to help businesses focused on ocean health grow.
The program, founded by SeaAhead, Inc. and the New England Aquarium, is known as BlueSwell. It’s meant to help fledgling companies find their footing. The New Hampshire startups will be part of the program’s fifth cohort.
One of the startups chosen to participate, HydroPhos Solutions, was started by students at the University of New Hampshire.
The founders, now all recent grads, got the idea for HydroPhos from an ecology class that one of them attended. Nutrients like phosphorus, they learned, were driving toxic algae bloom growth and causing problems for aquatic ecosystems.
“We did some research and found out that phosphorus specifically — there's a global shortage of it. We as people can't function without it and plants can't grow without it,” said Daisy Burns, one of the co-founders. “So we thought, hey, there’s a real need here.”
Now, HydroPhos is developing technology to remove phosphorus from wastewater, limiting the nutrients that can make it into water bodies. Then, they’re planning to put that phosphorus into fertilizer.
“We're basically kind of closing the loop on taking phosphorus from a place where it's very harmful and it's a contaminant in our waterways and bringing it to where we do need it, to feed our population,” Burns said.
Coastal Measures, the other New Hampshire company chosen for the program, organizes environmental data.
The accelerator program connects startups with other business leaders, mentors, and peers who are also starting companies focused on aquatic and marine health. Startups also get $25,000.
Burns says she’s excited to learn from other startups, make new connections, and expand the company’s focus from just lakes and rivers. HydroPhos plans to use the funding to run tests on their filtration technology and their fertilizer, as they begin piloting their idea.
