Our oceans and rivers are choking on plastic waste, devastating marine life and poisoning the water that communities depend on. This global environmental crisis demands immediate action to save our precious aquatic ecosystems and protect the health of both people and the planet.
In Mexico there is a passionate group of young entrepreneurs tackling this challenge head-on with their innovative startup, Bluekali.
Bluekali combines cutting-edge technology with a commitment to social impact. Their purpose is clear: to clean Latin America’s rivers and oceans, addressing the challenges of material collection for recycling.
We spoke to the founders of Bluekali, Maria Jose Hernandez and Annie Rosas, to learn more about their story, their achievements, and their vision for a future with clean and healthy bodies of water.
How did the story of Bluekali begin?
Maria Jose Hernandez & Annie Rosas: We decided to create Bluekali in November 2023 and began operating in January 2024. Yet we consider it important to mention that Bluekali began as two different startups: Blue Bond and Akali. We both were named winners of an initiative from Procter & Gamble called “Agua en Positivo”. Part of the prize was an Incubation Bootcamp in Mexico City at United Way’s offices. That’s where Arena, Annie, Luis and I (María José) met. Individually, we did similar things and had a very common objective. We found out that if we joined; the possibilities of impact increased significantly. So we did; Blue Bond and Akali turned into Bluekali.
A few weeks later, we decided to work on an Artificial Intelligence Value Proposal that could significantly enrich Bluekali; that’s where we found Aldo, our CIO. He began as an independent consultant in January, yet found our startup quite interesting and decided to join us as a co-founder and CIO in May.
Even though Bluekali started in different parts of Mexico, we all began because we saw the need to clean our rivers and oceans, willing to ensure water quality for humanity and the ecosystem itself. Every member of Bluekali is passionate or related to our oceans somehow. So even though we have pivoted and changed through these months of operations, our mission remains clear; connecting people with the ocean and aquatic ecosystems.
What impact has Bluekali achieved so far?
Maria Jose Hernandez & Annie Rosas: Talking about awards, our whale shark technology began as a research project, actually. With it, we earned a silver international medal at ATAST IFEST 2021, the biggest science fair in Africa. Due to that result, we decided to keep moving, which led me personally to earn the Entrepreneurship Talent Scholarship at Tecnológico de Monterrey for my academic studies, this has led me to continue my career with a balance between my engineering degree, entrepreneurship endeavors and search for a healthier planet. Regarding our bubble barrier technology, Arena and Annie achieved to be winners of the Youth Innovation Challenge 2023 from the Commission of Environmental Cooperation of North America (CEC).
Since we started Bluekali, we have had a very interesting response. Just recently, we were in Lisbon for the Hult Prize Global Summit, we were chosen for Mercedes Benz’s BeVisioneers, and have been recognized by important international organizations and enterprises such as makesense, Procter and Gamble, Ashoka, among others. Our latest Prize is Unlock Her Future Prize by the Bicester Collection where our CFO raised 50 thousand dollars as grant.
Now talking about impact on communities, we have increased water quality for over 400 mexicans, subtracting nearly half a ton of plastic from water bodies in Xalapa, Veracruz and Toluca, Estado de México. Personally, one of the most heartwarming moments through these few months was giving an environmental education course at Nevadi Institute in the State of Mexico. Seeing how girls were inspired through our example for seeking STEM activities and environmental tasks was a hug to the soul. This course was given to sixty kids, covered by scholarships, to see environmental studies from a new perspective.
We are definitely very excited to see how we will keep impacting Mexican water bodies and the communities surrounding them.
What would you say are the greatest challenges your company is facing?
Maria Jose Hernandez & Annie Rosas: Annie, our CFO, once mentioned “entrepreneurship is hard, social entrepreneurship can be even harder” and I couldn’t agree more, nor say it another way. Creating an economically sustainable and prosper business model while also prioritizing social impact as a main pillar on our startup is definitely a challenge. In addition, being in the technology business exposes us to new innovations almost on a daily basis; being able to be in constant research is also very challenging.
Aside from business, it is very important to maintain a healthy balance between your business and your personal life and health; and I think this applies to any job in general. I consider that if the entrepreneur herself or himself lives a healthy balance, the business is most likely to be successful. Of course, some periods of time can be intense; yet finding time for personal needs is crucially important.
How does your background or experience equip you to tackle this challenge?
Maria Jose Hernandez & Annie Rosas: One of the things that make me the most proud regarding Bluekali is the team that composes it. Everybody is brilliant, from my fellow co-founders to our interns.
Arena’s passion for the oceans led her to study a masters degree in Marine Biology, which has been vital for impact measurement and a part of technology development. Annie’s pursuit for a better world led her to specialize in social business, aligning our business objectives with positive impact. Aldo’s curiosity evolved into him being brilliant at computer science, his skills has allowed us to integrate advanced AI technology to Bluekali. Luis’s creativity is a driving force for our hardware development, leading us to have conversation-starter robots. Our shared values of environmental and social equity bind us together, creating a strong purpose.
We all have different academic careers; but I think we create the perfect mix and balance. In addition, our different qualities as individuals and diversity of background lead us to constant interesting processes and a shared commitment to innovation and sustainability.
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What is the long-term vision for your company?
Maria Jose Hernandez & Annie Rosas: Our long-term vision for Bluekali is to create a world where rivers, lakes, and oceans are free from plastic and solid waste pollution. We aim to develop and implement cutting-edge technologies that automate the cleaning of water bodies, reducing the need for human intervention and making the process more efficient and scalable.
In the future, we want to keep developing technology and solutions to avoid the arrival of trash to aquatic ecosystems in the first place. So we are not sure yet of how this final technology and solutions will look like, we have some drafts as of now, but we are excited to see where it will take us.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com — In the Featured Photo: Google’s Deepmind Ecosystem. Featured Photo Credit: Pixabay.
