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The Ocean AgeAuthor: Fed DeGobbi
This podcast is for ocean entrepreneurs and innovators who want to grow and succeed in the blue economy. Through interviews with industry leaders, founders, and subject matter experts, I will share their stories, unpack their most important lessons, and extract actionable insights and best practices. Language: en Genres: Business, Earth Sciences, Entrepreneurship, Science Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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#38: Jose Puga – Patagonia Special (Part 3): Nanobubbles to Remediate the Seabed
Monday, 12 January, 2026
Send us a textThis is the third and final part of a special series I recorded as I was connecting with ocean founders and experts in Latin America. Each episode is a standalone interview, so if you’ve missed the previous two, that’s absolutely fine.This time, my guest is Jose Puga, Co-Founder and CEO of ChucaoTech. This is a start-up based in Chilean Patagonia that uses nanobubble technology in aquaculture. Injecting nanobubbles provides oxygen to the fish but is also used to remediate the seabed from the pollution caused by open-net fish farms.We’ll dive into this innovative and award-winning technology, but we’ll also hear Jose’s entrepreneurial journey, which is a really cool story. A mechanical engineer who was in the world largest radio telescope (working with oxygen masks up at 5000 m or 16000 feet in the Atacama Desert), he moved to the UK as a consultant, to then come back to Chile and start his own business, which was not without some tense and dark moments.Jose's Bio:Mechanical engineer, Master of Science in Engineering (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile) and a Master's in Industrial Systems (University of Cambridge, UK). With more than 10 years of experience in Chile and abroad in the implementation of various projects and design of products in sectors such as aquaculture, astronomy, mining and consumer products.Timestamps:00:00:00 - Introduction to The Ocean Age Podcast00:00:32 - Guest Introduction: Jose Puga of ChucaoTech00:02:03 - Defining the Problem in Aquaculture00:05:48 - Seabed Remediation Problem00:08:49 - Nanobubbles Explained00:13:07 - Customers and Market for Chucao Tech00:23:05 - Jose's Background: ALMA Project in Atacama Desert00:28:48 - Transition to Cambridge and Product Development00:35:01 - Founding ChucaoTech00:42:03 - Pivot to Seabed Remediation Service00:47:03 - Difficult Moments and Financial Strain00:49:35 - Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs01:10:23 - Ocean Concerns and Environmental Purpose01:12:59 - Difficult moment: From 65 to 13 People01:14:29 - Final Message and Contact InformationUseful Links & Resources:Jose Puga on LinkedInChucaoTech: Website, LinkedInGet in touch with The Ocean Age's host Fed DeGobbi on LinkedIn, X or by emailing directly at fed@oceanage.co***The Ocean Age Podcast is produced by Charlotte Raffo and edited by Nebojsa Lešević. Sarah Carpenter and Giulia Leanza are our research assistants. Please send in your feedback: what do you want to hear more or less of? Any suggestions? Would love to hear what you think!
