Thirty ocean technology startups will make significant contributions to the health of our oceans and the Blue Economy as part of the 2022 Ocean Startup Challenge, presented by the Ocean Startup Project.

Six-hundred-forty-thousand dollars will be distributed to winners to support the development of their sustainable ocean solutions. They will also undergo ocean-focused training and workshops, receive feedback and guidance from industry experts like our  Executives-In-Residence, participate in networking opportunities, and so much more.  

“These early stage ideas have the potential to make a massive impact on ocean health and sustainability, and scale quickly. They are nimble, innovative, and have the passion and fortitude to build globally competitive companies.” said Don Grant, Executive Director at the Ocean Startup Project.   

“There is a growing recognition among Canadian innovators that sustainable ocean solutions present a significant economic opportunity – we are seeing more and more entrepreneurs waking up to this potential and working to develop new technologies and approaches that can help us address some of the most pressing challenges facing our oceans. With the momentum we are seeing in the national ocean startup ecosystem, Canada’s Blue Economy is set to grow exponentially,” Grant said.   

The Ocean Startup Project, a national initiative making Canada one of the best places in the world to start and grow an ocean venture, launched the Ocean Startup Challenge in 2020 and has had 43 companies complete the program to date. Program alumni have created more than 100 jobs nationally and have raised more than $10.5-million in equity investment and more than $9-million in non-dilutive funding since working with the Ocean Startup Project.   

The 2022 Cohort includes: 

• AbbaTek Group Inc. (St. John’s, NL) – AI interface to streamline, standardize and de-skill microplastics analysis and reporting

• Akwekon Enterprises (Halifax, NS) – A fast, stable and hyper efficient smart electric fishing vessel

• Canadian Pacifico Seaweeds Ltd.  (Surrey, BC) – A remote real-time environmental and structural farm monitoring system 

• Clean Catch Inc. (Halifax, NS) – A biodegradable electric autonomous target vessel for navy 

• Coastal Carbon (Calgary, AB) – Leveraging AI & remote sensing to verify and monitor blue carbon projects anywhere on earth 

• Composite Mats Canada Inc. (St. John’s, NL) – A modular runway system for remote and northern communities made from recyclable materials 

• CuredCarbon (Cambridge, ON) – Corrosion resistant graphene-enhanced coating for marine infrastructure 

• Cuttlefish Robotics (Listowel, ON) – An efficient and silent underwater ROV 

• Dasivedo Design Ltd. (Surrey, BC) – The Tig Rig modular, standardized retrofit wind assist mounting system: future proofing ships into a new era

• GeoHazard Integrity AI Inc. (Antigonish, NS) – AI integrated geohazard analysis platform to lower exploration and development costs for marine energy projects

• GreenSage Prebiotics Inc. (Halifax, NS) – Prebiotics from coconut residue for aquaculture and humans – a product to support immune and digestive health 

• Hoola One Technologies (Québec, QC) – Two technologies developed to treat and collect plastic pollution on contaminated land or in the grey water from ships

• Hypérion ML Inc. (Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, QC) – Autonomous bioreactor using microalgae for urban carbon sink purposes 

• Integrative Nanotech Ltd. (Halifax, NS) – A novel EI spectroscopy based sensor with efficient ocean sensing capabilities 

• Intel Vision Technologies Inc. (Vancouver, BC) – An intelligent ROV for underwater welding operations 

• MF2S Industries (Grande Rivière, QC) – Double threshold weak link to reduce whales entanglement 

• nditive3D (St. John’s, NL) – A digital twin-driven system for real-time monitoring of the hazardous gasses in marine operations 

• Nereus Therapeutics (Toronto, ON) – Sustainable antibiotics for the aquaculture industry

• OnDeck Fisheries AI Inc. (Vancouver, BC) – OnDeck makes fisheries monitoring scalable with artificial intelligence

• OPAS Mobile (St. John’s, NL) – An intelligent operations management platform that improves safety, compliance and efficiency in the offshore industry 

• PhyCo (Vancouver, BC / Charlottetown, PE) – A natural bio-based plastic derived from seaweed 

• PLAEX Building Systems Inc. (Hampstead, NB) – Innovative and sustainable building materials using plastic from oceans 

• Planette Inc. (Victoria, BC) – An intelligent, data-driven maritime climate risk assessment platform 

• Precision Pathways (St. John’s, NL) – ML driven intelligent decision support tool for ship operations in ice 

• Salus Automated Technologies Inc. (Halifax, NS) – Self-launched drone monitoring system for tracking ocean infrastructure 

• Scient Analytics Inc. (New Glasgow, NS) – An imaging solution for streamlined analysis of ocean substrate and sediment samples 

• Seathru Technologies Inc. (Holyrood, NL) – A digital twin remote monitoring system for marine vessels 

• Swordfish Energy Corporation (Vancouver, BC) – Underwater turbine to harness clean energy from oceans 

• Ultimate Lobster Bait Inc. (Souris, PE) – A biochemical attractant for use as bait for American Lobster 

• 7 Leagues Leather Ltd. (Vancouver, BC) – Eco luxury wholesale fish leather and fish leather goods upcycled from waste in fisheries and forestry 

Intake for the program occurs once per year, with applications opening in early summer. For more information about the Ocean Startup Challenge and its alumni, visit oceanstartupproject.ca/challenge.