Company type | Private |
---|---|
Genre | Startup incubator |
Founded | July 31, 2011incorporated March 29, 2012 as Blueseed, Inc.) | (
Founder | |
Headquarters | Palo Alto, California |
Key people | |
Number of employees | 30 |
Website | blueseed |
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 resumed 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 potential. 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]