Post #59: Designing a Blue Economy Startup Funding Tool

Welcome friends,

With so many types of capital available (grants, venture, blended finance, angel, corporate), the question isn't just what money to raise, but when and why.

Too often, founders pursue opportunities simply because they're open—not because they align with where the business is or where it’s going. That leads to mismatched expectations, wasted time, and in some cases, equity or control given away too early.

What `I thought was missing is a simple and free way to forecast your capital journey. A clear, strategic tool to help you map out a 1–5 year plan for the types of funding most suited to your business, based on your stage, goals, and growth profile.

I understand the complexities involved with startup funding and there isn't a one size fits all as each startup faces its own challenges and timelines, however, a guide based of success rates from previous ventures might be of use.

This blog introduces the blueprint - still need to think about how to build an MVP.

Next week, I’ll be releasing a lightweight MVP as a little side project for an interactive matrix—a tool that will generate a personalised funding roadmap for your ocean startup, based on real inputs. Today’s post outlines what the tool will do, what you’ll input, and why it’s designed specifically for the complexities of the blue economy.

What the Tool Will Do

The goal is to move from guesswork to guidance—giving founders a clearer, more intentional approach to funding decisions. This isn’t just a static resource like a funding database, but a lightweight forecasting tool that generates funding scenarios tailored to your startup’s unique profile.

Here’s what the MVP version of the tool will be designed to do - first iterations wont be perfect but the below will be a guideline:

Input + Analyse

The tool will take a range of inputs across your startup’s fundamentals, financials, impact, and funding goals (covered in Section 2). These inputs will then be analysed through simple logic rules (and eventually algorithmic scoring) to create a suggested funding path.

Output: A 1–5 Year Capital Roadmap

Based on your profile, you’ll receive:

• A funding timeline broken into years (e.g. Y1: grant + accelerator / Y2: angel + RBF / Y3: pre-seed VC)

• Recommended funding types with rationale

• Milestone checkpoints, such as:“Before raising equity, validate your product with at least 2 commercial pilots”“Apply for Tech Nation or BlueInvest accelerator in Year 2 to de-risk equity raise”

Red Flag Warnings

The tool will flag:

• Short runway + no plan to raise

• Over-reliance on grant cycles

• Dilution risk if equity is taken too early

• Mismatch between funding goals and business maturity These help founders reframe expectations and re-prioritise where needed.

Strategic Recommendations

At the end of the matrix, the tool will provide 3–5 clear suggestions, like:

• “Apply to [specific accelerator] aligned with your sector”

• “Delay equity until after R&D milestone—seek Innovate UK Smart Grant in Q3”

• “Consider revenue-based financing after hitting £20K MRR”

Optional Future Features (v2+)

The MVP will remain simple and usable, but future iterations could include:

• Downloadable PDF of your forecast

• Live-linked funding opportunities from the OTI Funding Hub, filtered by profile

• AI-generated summaries: “Your funding mix resembles X% grant, X% private capital”

• “What-if” scenario planning: Toggle your revenue goal or capital ask to see how your path changes

• Suggested peer startups with similar profiles for reference

The Inputs: What Founders Will Plug In

To generate a meaningful and personalised funding forecast, the tool will rely on a set of clear, structured inputs. These won’t require complex data—just the essential building blocks that reflect where your startup is today, and where you’re aiming to go.

The input categories have been designed specifically for ocean and climate-related startups, but will still be broad enough to support a variety of business types—from deep tech ventures to mission-driven service models.

Here’s what you’ll be asked to provide:

1. Startup Fundamentals

These help anchor the model to your sector, location, and structure:

• Startup Name (optional)

• Year Founded

• Location (Region / Country – useful for grant eligibility)

• Team Size

• Legal Structure (e.g. Ltd, CIC, Charity, Hybrid)

• Technology Type (e.g. Deep Tech, SaaS, Hardware, Platform, Service-based)

2. Stage & Readiness

Understanding where you are in your journey is critical to recommending the right funding approach:

• Current Stage (Idea, MVP, Prototype, Early Revenue, Scaling)

• Is your product or service live? (Yes/No)

• Revenue over the last 12 months (£)

• Revenue forecast for next 12 months (£)

• Have you received any previous funding? (Grant / Angel / VC / Bootstrapped)

3. Financial Snapshot

This section helps assess urgency, runway, and funding appetite:

• Monthly Burn Rate (£)

• Current Runway (months)

• How much capital are you seeking in the next 12 months? (£)

• What will the capital be used for? (tick-box: R&D, trials, hiring, marketing, working capital, equipment, etc.)

4. Mission & Market Focus

Because the blue economy sits at the intersection of profit and purpose, this input shapes how commercial vs. impact-aligned your funding path should be:

• Mission Orientation:

  • Climate-first / Impact-first

  • Market-first / Commercial

  • Balanced

• Primary Impact Area:

  • Marine biodiversity

  • Blue carbon / ocean climate

  • Sustainable seafood / aquaculture

  • Ocean data & monitoring

  • Plastics / circular economy

• Target Market:

  • B2B

  • B2G (Government / Research)

  • NGO / Academic

  • B2C

    
    

The Outputs: What the Tool Will Tell You

Once you’ve entered your startup’s key information, the tool will generate a personalised capital strategy roadmap over a 1–5 year horizon. The goal isn’t to make precise financial predictions, but to guide founders in aligning their business with the right capital types at the right time.

The output will focus on practical, founder-facing insights, broken into the following categories:

A Year-by-Year Funding Roadmap

A simple 5-column table or timeline that suggests:

Year	Suggested Funding Type(s)	Rationale / Goal
Y1	Grant + Accelerator Support	Early-stage + high impact + no revenue
Y2	Angel Investment + R&D Grant	Early traction + building credibility
Y3	Seed VC or Revenue-Based Financing	Recurring revenue begins
Y4	Follow-on VC or Strategic Partners	Scaling phase, infrastructure needed
Y5	Philanthropic Grant or Loan Mix	Long-term mission sustainability

Output will be dynamically adjusted based on inputs like:

• Burn rate + runway

• Revenue forecast

• Mission orientation (impact vs commercial)

• Capital intensity (deep tech vs SaaS, etc.)

• Stage (e.g. MVP vs scaling)

Recommended Funding Mix

An overall breakdown of what % of your likely funding should come from:

• Public grants & innovation funding

• Equity (angel, VC)

• Alternative finance (RBF, loans)

• Philanthropy or non-dilutive capital

• Bootstrapping (if runway + low burn)

Example:

Your ideal mix over 5 years:45% Grants, 30% Equity, 15% Strategic Partnerships, 10% Bootstrapped

Red Flag Alerts

Based on mismatches in input logic, you'll see simple “warning” tags like:

• ❗ Runway under 4 months with no confirmed funding – seek short-term grant now

• ❗ Seeking equity pre-revenue with no product validation – increase traction first

• ❗ Grant-dependent model with no revenue plan – risk to long-term viability

These are basic, rule-based triggers—not AI (yet)—and will be easy to implement in Sheets/Notion logic.

Strategic Recommendations (maybe)

Text-based outputs that combine inputs into tailored advice. For example:

“As a deep tech ocean monitoring startup with no revenue and a monthly burn of £12K, your best next move is to secure a non-dilutive R&D grant (e.g. Innovate UK) and apply to a climate tech accelerator. Avoid giving up equity before proving technical milestones.”

These will be short (2–3 lines), templated, and customisable based on conditional logic.

Optional (Nice to Have) MVP Features

For a slightly more advanced MVP (or V2):

• Link to relevant grant calls or accelerators from your OTI funding hub

• Simple scoring system (e.g. “Funding Strategy Fit Score: 7.5/10”)

• Export as PDF (via Notion or Google Sheets plugin)

Why This Matters for the Blue Economy

Ocean startups are building in one of the most important and complex sectors on the planet—but when it comes to funding, they often face some of the toughest challenges:

• Limited investor familiarity with marine markets

• Grant systems that are bureaucratic and inconsistent

• Capital models still built for fast-scaling software companies—not long-cycle, impact-driven ventures

• High uncertainty in market development, policy shifts, and infrastructure needs

Despite this, the innovation happening across the blue economy—from sustainable aquaculture to ocean data platforms and circular economy ventures—is extraordinary. What’s missing isn’t talent or ideas. It’s a clear map to help founders get funded without compromising their mission, timeline, or sanity.

This tool aims to offer that clarity.

Not by prescribing a one-size-fits-all answer, but by helping founders think more strategically about how capital fits into their roadmap—especially as the sector matures and new forms of funding (like blended finance, RBF, and ocean-focused VCs) become more accessible.

It also acknowledges the changing funding landscape itself. With AI and automation increasingly used by investors, accelerators, and grant-makers to assess eligibility, impact, and traction, founders will need to understand—and eventually embrace—these tools as part of their strategy.

This blueprint is a small step in that direction.

Final Notes & What’s Next

Next Friday, I’ll release the first working version of this tool—a lightweight, interactive MVP built in Notion or Google Sheets. It will be free to access, simple to use, and designed for ocean founders who want a clearer picture of how to plan their capital journey over the next 1–5 years.

This first version won’t be perfect. But it will offer something that doesn’t currently exist: a free, founder-facing guide to help you forecast and navigate funding decisions based on your actual business model—not just generic startup advice.

I’m building this to be open and iterative, so if you’re:

• A founder in the blue economy

• An accelerator or grant programme

• An investor trying to support earlier-stage ventures …I'd love your feedback, testing, and input.

What to expect next week:

• A public version of the tool with input fields, logic, and tailored outputs

• A post walking through how to use it + some example scenarios

• A call for feedback to improve the next version

Thanks again for reading and for being part of the OceanTech Insider journey.

Warm wishes,

H