ASEAN Blue Incubation Program

In Partnership with UNDP, the ASEAN Secretariat, and the Government of Japan.

---

Driving Sustainable Innovation in The ASEAN Blue Economy Project

Int Labs is proud to spearhead the ASEAN Blue Incubation Program, a flagship initiative under the ASEAN Blue Economy Innovation (ABEI) Project. This program was developed in collaboration with UNDP Indonesia and the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME), and with generous support from the Government of Japan.

Designed to empower startups and MSMEs across ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste, the program champions innovations that drives sustainable development in the blue economy as a critical sector for the regions’s environmental and economic resilience.

Empowering 230 Innovators, Supporting 60 Startups

We have incubated 230 innovators across 60 startsup,  supporting the growth of innovative blue economy solutions while addressing key challenges such as sustainable fisheries, marine plastic pollution, eco-tourism, and climate resilience. These startups have positively impacted over 40,000 local community members across ASEAN and Timor-Leste, driving meaningful progress in local development.

The program featured a comprehensive and interactive curriculum comprising of seven-workshops and four-mentoring, covering essential topics like business planning, solution validation, commercialisation strategies, and impact measurement.

Each participating startup was paired with a dedicated mentor, ensuring personalized support tailored to their unique stage of development. These mentoring sessions played a vital role in helping founders strengthen their business models, sharpen investor pitches, and prepare for market entry and growth.

How Our Incubation Program Advanced 60 Startups

Before entering the incubation program, all 60 startups underwent an assessment to determine their stage of business development: Ideation, Product-Market Fit (PMF), Commercialization, or Scale. By recognising where they stood, startups were able to pinpoint gaps in their strategies and refine their business models accordingly. The program offered hands-on sessions and real-world applications that empowered teams to enhance their strategies, improve market readiness, and move toward building sustainable ventures.

The results speak for themselves. From pre- to post-incubation, the number of teams at the ideation stage dropped significantly from 34 (56.7%) to 11 (18.3%). Meanwhile, the number of startups at the PMF stage increased from 11 (18.3%) to 20 (33.3%), commercialization rose from 12 (20%) to 19 (31.7%), and those at the scale stage more than tripled—from 3 (5%) to 10 (16.7%). These shifts clearly demonstrate a significant leap in the overall innovation maturity of the cohort.

Building a Sustainable Blue Future, Together

Through this hands-on and structured incubation approach, the program has strengthened the capacity of ASEAN’s blue economy innovators by enabling them not only to launch viable ventures, but also to deliver real, measurable impact within their local communities and ecosystems.

This initiative represents more than just business support, it is about capacity building, multilateral collaboration, and community empowerment. We are witnessing the emergence of serious changemakers as entrepreneurs who are not only building industries, but also restoring and sustaining the ecosystems we all depend on.

🎥 Watch the video to hear directly from our innovators and discover how the ASEAN Blue Incubation Program has supported their journey to becoming future leaders in the blue economy.