What is the name of your organization?
BlueGea Group
What is the name of your solution?
BlueGea Group
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Harvesting & upcycling invasive seaweed into low-carbon products for ocean restoration, resilient coastal livelihoods and industry decarbonization
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Santo Domingo
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Dominican Republic
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Invasive seaweed and harmful algal blooms are becoming a growing global crisis affecting coastal ecosystems, economies, and public health worldwide. From massive sargassum influxes across the Caribbean and Atlantic basin, to Rugulopteryx invasions in Europe and microalgae blooms in Australia, these events are increasing in frequency and intensity due to ocean warming, nutrient pollution, and ecosystem imbalance. Today, more than 50 countries and territories worldwide are affected by large-scale marine biomass invasions.
And, as this biomass accumulates and decomposes along coastlines, it releases gases (methane, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia) in concentrations up to 35 times above safe levels, affecting air quality, marine biodiversity, tourism, fisheries, and coastal livelihoods, generating over USD 1.5 billion annually in economic losses.
However, these crises are not isolated environmental events, they are deeply connected to the same unsustainable, fossil-based industrial systems driving climate change globally. Like agriculture, which alone accounts for nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, with synthetic fertilizers and petroleum-based inputs contributing heavily to emissions, soil degradation, and disruption of planetary biogeochemical cycles. Or sectors such as cosmetics, nutraceuticals, textiles, plastics, and materials, which continue relying on non-sustainable synthetic compounds also associated with pollution and long-term environmental and health risks.
What is your solution?
The Blue GeaGroup is a BlueTech group formed by the private companies SOS Carbon and SOS Biotech and the NGO Terra & Marre Foundation, providing an integrated solution across the full value chain of invasive seaweed management, from harvesting and environmental sanitation to processing and upcycling the biomass into bio-based low-carbon products.
Our solution starts with the nearshore collection of invasive seaweed before it decomposes along coastlines. Through SOS Carbon, our harvesting branch, we developed a patented system (the Littoral Collection Module) that retrofits local artisanal fishing boats into high-capacity collection units, enabling scalable operations while creating direct employment for fishers affected by invasive seaweed events.
The collected biomass is then processed at our biorefinery through our upcycling branch, SOS Biotech, where we extract high-value compounds including polysaccharides, polyphenols, proteins, and other bioactive molecules. Using these compounds, we formulate low-carbon agricultural products, with three currently on the market (Marine Symbiotic, Marine Blossom and Marine Soil), designed to increase crop resilience and productivity while reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers. We also maintain an R&D portfolio of bioactive extracts for animal feed ingredients, biomaterials, and cosmetics that can replace synthetic and fossil-based alternatives across multiple industries.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
The BlueGea Group primarily serves coastal and island communities directly affected by invasive seaweed and harmful algal bloom events, particularly small-scale fishers, coastal workers, tourist, farmers, and vulnerable communities across the Caribbean and Atlantic basin. These communities are often on the frontlines of climate change despite contributing the least to it, facing severe economic losses, ecosystem degradation, public health risks, and growing livelihood insecurity as invasive biomass accumulates along their coastlines.
Through our harvesting operations, we create direct employment opportunities for local fishers and coastal workers whose incomes are increasingly affected by declining fisheries, tourism disruptions, and marine ecosystem degradation. Rather than replacing local communities, our model is designed to integrate existing artisanal fishing infrastructure into scalable collection systems, allowing communities to actively participate in and benefit from the restoration economy.
Moreover, our agricultural products and bio-based extracts also serve farmers and industries seeking low-carbon alternatives to synthetic and fossil-based products. Our agricultural formulations, for example, help improve soil health, crop resilience, and productivity while reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers and imported agricultural inputs, helping farmers transition toward more regenerative agricultural practices without compromising productivity or economic viability.
