The Free Trade Zone of Cádiz has launched the first call for 2026 of Blue Accelerator, the business accelerator integrated into the Incubazul–Blue Core program, with the incorporation of 16 new business projects linked to the Blue Economy. The program, which will develop over the next four months, aims to support startups and innovative projects in the validation, consolidation, and scalability of their business models through an intensive itinerary that combines specialized mentoring, strategic advice, and preparation for access to funding.
The selected projects have undergone an evaluation process according to the call's bases and have been assessed by a team of experts in entrepreneurship and the Blue Economy, in order to ensure the quality and growth potential of the participating initiatives.
The 2026 edition of Blue Accelerator presents notable diversity both territorially and sectorally. Although a significant part of the projects comes from the province of Cádiz and the wider region of Andalusia, initiatives from other autonomous communities and even from abroad, specifically Finland, also participate, representing almost 20% of the total. This international presence consolidates the positioning of the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz as a hub for talent and innovation in the maritime and coastal sector on a European scale.
Among the selected initiatives are technological projects applied to port logistics and artificial intelligence, underwater robotics solutions aimed at restoring marine ecosystems, biotechnology proposals applied to aquaculture, renewable energies linked to the naval sector, marine resource valuation, and innovative models for sustainable nautical tourism. The variety of represented sectors reflects the transversal nature of the Blue Economy as an area of economic activity with increasing strategic weight in the Andalusian coast and in the Mediterranean and Atlantic arch.
The representative of the State in the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, Fran González, welcomed the new initiatives and expressed his satisfaction with the evolution of the Cádiz Blue Economy ecosystem. "We are working day by day on consolidation to position ourselves as the hub for Blue Economy in the province of Cádiz and throughout southern Spain," he stated. González highlighted that the incorporation of talent from Northern Europe confirms a trend already observed in the three editions of the Blue Zone Forum: "The fact that we have attracted talent from outside Cádiz and even from Northern Europe reaffirms us as a hub for attraction in Blue Economy matters. The arrival of external talent will greatly enrich our ecosystem," said the representative.
Blue Accelerator is part of a broader ecosystem articulated around the Incubazul–Blue Core program, which to date has supported more than 100 business projects. Alongside the business accelerator, the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz program includes complementary support tools for the productive sector: Blue Exterior, focused on the internationalization of companies; Blue Financing, aimed at accessing investment and financial resources; and Blue Core 360º, a cost-free service voucher designed to improve the competitiveness of companies linked to the Blue Economy. This set of instruments provides a comprehensive support offer that covers from the earliest phases of business development to consolidation in international markets.
The Blue Core project is 85% funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the Multi-Regional Operational Program of Spain 2021-2027, under the priority P1A of the Viveros 4.0 High Technology Incubators Program, aimed at promoting a digital and intelligent transition in the Spanish productive sector. This European funding supports the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz's commitment to the Blue Economy as a vector for economic development, innovation, and the generation of qualified employment on the Cádiz and Andalusian coastline.
With the start of this new edition of Blue Accelerator, the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz continues to consolidate its positioning strategy in a sector that combines activities as diverse as fishing and aquaculture, maritime transport, marine renewable energies, blue biotechnology, and coastal tourism, and which represents one of the most relevant future bets for the economy of the southern European coast.