“BLUE & AltaSea will be USA's BlueTech bookends.”

The Dual-Use Prelude to Maine Blue Economy Week.

Join us in Bath, Maine and Brunswick Landing, September 27-29, 2026. 

By blending industrial agility with strategic financing, the Steel & Salt Summit brings together global founders, industry leaders, impact investors, and public sector stakeholders to ruggedize software-infused hardware across the air-sea-space continuum. Together, we are aligning the capital, policy, and infrastructure required to forge the next generation of multi-domain maritime technology and cross the commercialization Valley of Death.  

Organized by Blue Innovation Labs (headquartered within TechPlace at Brunswick Landing) and the Blue Institute (anchored in Bath), the Steel & Salt Summit serves as the specialized prelude to the flagship conference later in the week in Portland. Please join us!

Backed by Maine's world-class scientific, testing, and near-shore research capabilities, this intensive track establishes our coastal corridors as the ultimate proving ground for global deep tech startups scaling software-infused hardware for the harsh operational realities of the North Atlantic and the changing ocean frontier. Step into the forum for deep tech hardware collaboration here, rooted in Maine’s rich industrial legacy. This is where innovators, investors, academic leaders, national security specialists, and industry executives confront the unique trials of dual-use hardware development, the realities of slow capital, and the specialized workforce pipelines needed to sustain both modern innovation and traditional manufacturing. Engage where the ideas are forged.

Carry that momentum into Portland for the central corporate, financial, accelerator growth, and Flagship Conference programming starting Wednesday, witness it in action during Friday's regional field tours (featuring UMaine Orono's advanced engineering labs, commercial aquaculture farms, or UNE's ocean health ecosystem), and conclude the week with a community-wide arts and humanities celebration of our Blue Planet.

BATH, MAINE PHOTO BY RICK BERK PHOTOGRAPHY

Applications are now officially open for the inaugural Maine cohort of the Blue Incubator at Blue Innovation Labs.

If you are building complex physical or digital assets designed to survive the planet’s harshest environments—from orbit to the subsea—this is your launchpad. We are the salt and the steel: a dedicated, multi-year lifecycle partner built to advance your technology readiness levels in real, unforgiving environments.  

Whether your technology aligns with our Blue Vector (TRL 4–6) track for early-to-mid stage validation and prototyping, or our Blue Meridian (TRL 7–9) track for mission-readiness and federal infrastructure transition, your journey into the North Atlantic and Arctic begins here.

Deploy your innovation where it matters. Secure your data, protect your IP, and scale your technology with a true multi-year lifecycle partner.

The First 'Lab-to-Gantry-to-Sea' Pipeline for the North Atlantic.

By anchoring our industrial foundry at TechPlace, Brunswick Landing and weaving together the world-class engineering and advanced materials laboratories at the University of Maine with the state's deep-water deployment sites, we bridge the 'Valley of Death' for nature-positive, dual-use innovation—from the Rugged Coast of Maine to the Arctic Frontier. 

• Industrial Anchor: Physical TRL 4–9 facilities in the State of Maine.
• Strategic Pipeline: Seamless transition from prototype to mission-ready deployment.
• Global Impact: Serving our Blue Planet and a unified North Atlantic.