2025 Recap: Building the Blue Economy Ecosystem Together

2025 was the year A’Pelago entered a new phase of growth.

What began as a regional movement in the Archipelago Sea has evolved into a Nordic engine for Blue Economy innovation. This year brought new platforms, new programmes, new spaces — and stronger collaboration across sectors, regions, and communities.

Onboarding the 2nd A’Pelago Accelerator Cohort

We opened the year by onboarding 14 new Blue Economy ventures into the 2nd A’Pelago Accelerator. With hands-on advisory, scientific expertise, and access to a growing global network, the programme continued to support scalable solutions emerging from one of the world’s most sensitive and innovation-ready Sea regions.

Welcoming New Talent & Strengthening the Team

In February, our team grew from four to five members as Matilda Gustafsson joined as Lead of Marketing and Communications, expanding the core team and strengthening our capabilities for international growth.

Launching the Blue Connect Platform

During the Blue Connect Cruise in February, we introduced the Blue Connect ecosystem platform.
The cruise brought together entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers for an intensive 24-hour innovation journey at sea. Today, Blue Connect serves as the digital backbone of our community, enabling collaboration across the entire region.

Representing the Region Globally

Co-founder Timo Ketonen and team member Alina Sippolainen were invited to the UN Ocean Conference in Nice as part of the Finnish government delegation, elevating A’Pelago’s international presence and demonstrating the growing global relevance of our work.

Blue Economy Academy at A’Pelago Initiative 2025

During the Initiative, we organized the Blue Economy Academy for 20 students from universities across the region. The programme provided hands-on experience and exposure to sustainable maritime industries, building the next generation of Blue Economy leaders.

A’Pelago Initiative 2025: Strengthening the Region's Leading Forum

The A’Pelago Initiative continued to grow as the leading Blue Economy forum in the Baltic Sea region. The event brought together 300 persons from 12 different countries. The 2025 edition introduced a new Pitch Challenge, showcasing breakthrough innovations to investors, industry leaders, and the ecosystem at large.

Moving into the Blue Economy Centre in November 2025

In November, we moved into the newly opened Blue Economy Centre located in the Åbo Akademi Foundation’s building, hosted by Aboa Advest. This space provides a unique environment where startups, researchers, corporates, and public sector actors co-create, prototype, and accelerate solutions for the regeneration of coastal and island regions.

Welcoming New Ecosystem Members

This year, we welcomed several new Experience locations, partners, and members — including Matmalmen @Eva, Elomatic, the other danish guy, Lyyti, and many more — strengthening the diversity and reach of the A’Pelago Ecosystem.

Publishing Our First Impact Report

A major milestone of 2025 was the release of our first Impact Report — a comprehensive overview of the measurable impact across our operation areas.

A’Pelago empowers ecosystem companies to scale by raising awareness, fostering collaboration, and supporting the innovation, development, and financing of science-based business solutions that enable the self-regeneration of Sea regions. By scaling solutions that improve the health of our Seas, we amplify the collective impact of the A’Pelago Ecosystem.

The A’Pelago Impact Report 2024 is essential reading for understanding how our work contributes to reclaiming the Seas and shaping a thriving Blue Economy.
Readers can download the report and receive it directly by email here.

We kicked off the year by welcoming 14 new Blue Economy ventures into our 2nd Accelerator cohort.

During our Blue Connect cruise at sea with Viking Line, we launched the Blue Connect ecosystem platform.

Our core team grew from four to five members as Matilda Gustafsson joined as Lead of Marketing and Communications.

Our team was invited to the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, as part of the Finnish government delegation.

The day before A’Pelago Initiative 2025, we hosted an Investor Sail in the Finnish archipelago.

We organized Blue Economy Academy for 20 students from universities across the region.

In November, we relocated to the new Blue Economy Centre in the Åbo Akademi Foundation’s building, hosted by Aboa Advest.

We welcomed new Experience location Matmalmen @Eva and new partners incuding Elomatic, the other danish guy and Lyyti.

Article's picture: Heidi Pelander, Business Turku