Blueseed

This article is about the startup community. For the manga series, see Blue Seed.
Blueseed Inc.
Company typePrivate
GenreStartup incubator
FoundedJuly 31, 2011 (2011-07-31) (incorporated March 29, 2012 as Blueseed, Inc.)
Founder
HeadquartersPalo Alto, California
Key people
  • Dan Dascalescu (COO)
  • Dario Mutabdzija (President)[3]
  • Max Marty (Chairman of the Board of Directors)[4]
Number of employees
30
Websiteblueseed.com

Blueseed is a Palo Alto, California-based startup accelerator. It began as a seasteading venture.

The original idea of Blueseed was to create a startup community located on a vessel stationed in international waters near the coast of Silicon Valley in the United States.[5] The initial intended location (outside the territorial seas of the United States, 12 nautical miles (24 kilometers) from the coast of California, in the so-called "contiguous zone") would enable non-U.S. startup entrepreneurs to work on their ventures without the need for a US work visa (H1B), while living in proximity to Silicon Valley and using relatively easier to obtain business and tourism visas (B1/B2)[6] to travel to the mainland.

The project received wide media coverage and the promise of funding from venture capitalist Peter Thiel,[7] who also supports the Seasteading Institute, who ultimately did not invest in the seed round. Blueseed later obtained US$300,000 in seed funding,[8] Bitcoin investments, and $9M from an undisclosed investor,[9] and claimed plans to lease a ship for its platform.[10] The launch was planned for summer 2014,[11] assuming that $18M more would be raised.

Blueseed went on hold due to insufficient funding in 2013,but later resumes services in 2020 after raising funds from investors. Moreover the board decided to Abandon the initial seaseeding venture in other to focus as a business incubator establishing its headquarters in California.Since then the company has spent over $10M in seed funding, helping startups to reach their full potentials. The company also give out grant to startups both within and outside the United states. It has also led a lot of Serial Funding for startups who are willing to scale up. [11][3]

  1. ^ Friedman, Patri (31 July 2011). "The Seasteading Institute – July 2011 Newsletter". The Seasteading Institute. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  2. ^ Marty, Max (2013-07-31). "Two years of Blueseed". Blueseed (blog). Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  3. ^ a b "About Us". Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  4. ^ "Board of Directors". Blueseed. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  5. ^ Donald, Brooke (Dec 19, 2011). "CA startup sees entrepreneur-ship as visa solution". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  6. ^ "B1/B2 and H-1B visa issuance graphs". Bureau of Consular Affairs. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  7. ^ McCullagh, Declan (2011-11-30). "Peter Thiel floats cash to floating tech incubator". CNET. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  8. ^ Banister, Cyan (2012-12-13). "Mike Maples Gets On Board Blueseed's Sea Platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  9. ^ Asman, David (March 27, 2013). "A Floating Lab for High-Tech Startups". Fox Business. Archived from the original on March 31, 2013.
  10. ^ Silverfarb, Bill (2 January 2013). "Community at sea proposed off Half Moon Bay". San Mateo Daily Journal. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Quick facts". Retrieved April 7, 2013.