Alexia Massa-Gallucci fell in love with the ocean throughout childhood summer season holidays on the island of Ischia, off the coast of Naples, Italy, the place she was born. She later turned her ardour right into a profession as a marine biology professor and researcher.

Through her work, Massa-Gallucci, who now lives within the island nation of Malta within the Mediterranean Sea, repeatedly noticed people’ devastating influence on ecosystems — merely fishing or anchoring a ship can destroy seagrass. She needed to make use of her information and expertise to preserve marine life.

She launched Blue EcoTech to discover strategies of deriving helpful compounds from marine waste, resembling fish waste or washed-up seagrass, to assist varied industries. Changing from academia to enterprise meant a steep studying curve, and so Massa-Gallucci enrolled within the U.S. Department of State’s Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in 2022.

“I realized I needed training as an entrepreneur,” she stated. “AWE provided that training and gave me access to a network of other women entrepreneurs who were in the same boat as I am.”

AWE has offered greater than 25,000 ladies in 100 international locations the talents, information and networks to launch and scale profitable companies. More than 60 ladies in Malta have participated in AWE because the program launched there in 2021.

The program contains entry to Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and Freeport-McMoRan Foundation’s DreamBuilder platform, which Massa-Gallucci credit with serving to her create a marketing strategy. Through AWE, Massa-Gallucci additionally had the chance to pitch her enterprise thought for Blue EcoTech and received runner-up for finest general pitch, incomes $5,000 in seed funding.

So far, her firm has developed expertise to transform waste into parts for textiles, 3D printing and prescribed drugs. While the merchandise are usually not but on the market, the corporate is advancing marine conservation.

“Blue EcoTech is also committed to raising awareness about the importance of marine habitats,” Massa-Gallucci stated. “Even though Malta is surrounded by the sea, many people don’t know the importance of what they see.”

Blue EcoTech hosts academic occasions with specialists and the neighborhood, and Massa-Gallucci’s workforce just lately researched reforesting Mediterranean seagrass destroyed by human exercise. Seagrass within the Mediterranean is important for producing oxygen, preventing local weather change, decreasing shoreline erosion and supporting various underwater ecosystems.

Now geared up with information, funding and a community of supporters, Massa-Gallucci stated she is worked up to supply Blue EcoTech merchandise on the market within the coming years and to launch an underwater reforestation program in collaboration with the University of Malta.

“If you have a dream or an idea for a business, try to make it real — it’s a thrilling experience,” Massa-Gallucci stated. “Resources like AWE help make your dream a reality.”