The Ocean Startup Project, a national organization working to make Canada one of the best places in the world to start and grow an ocean venture, has opened applications for the third intake of its Ocean Startup Challenge. Idea and early stage ocean technology startups can apply to be part of the third Ocean Startup Project cohort with awards up to $40,000 for winning teams, along with valuable business supports, such as mentorship, networking opportunities, events, expert-led workshops, and more. The Challenge intake occurs once per year to foster the growth and development of new ocean technology startups in Canada’s booming Blue Economy.

Four early stage ocean technology startups have won the first-ever Ocean Idea Challenge, presented by the Ocean Startup Project – a national organization working to make Canada one of the best places in the world to start and grow an ocean venture. British Columbia-based OnDeck Fisheries AI and a British Columbia/Prince Edward Island-based team, PhyCo, – will each receive the top prize of $10,000. Newfoundland-based Seathru Technologies and Nova Scotia-based Sustainable Sea Products will also receive $2,500 each, after an immersive, four-week customer discovery process that helped prove market interest for their sustainable ocean ideas. 

For as long as boats have been submerged in the water, fouling has been an issue. Organisms such as barnacles, bivalves, sponges, seaweeds and polychaete worms attach themselves to vessels, slowing its speed, increasing fossil fuel consumption and transporting potentially invasive species from port to port. 

As the maritime sector edges away from a reliance on fossil fuels to power vessels, adopting innovative technologies that generate energy – especially as timelines and international regulations around decarbonization become more strict – will be essential. Some emissions-free and renewable energy storage solutions exist, but those, and a lack of charging infrastructure at ports, have significant limitations to their efficacy. Voltai is working on a solution.

CANADA, (March 10, 2022) – The Ocean Startup Project, a national organization making Canada the best place to start and grow an ocean venture, has opened applications for its first-ever Ocean Idea Challenge. The competition connects aspiring entrepreneurs with potential co-founders, and encourages them to identify an ocean sustainability program, then validate their proposed solution for a chance to win up to $10,000. 

CANADA, (February 23, 2022) – The Ocean Startup Project, a national organization making Canada the best place to start and grow an ocean venture, has opened applications for the third cohort of its Lab2Market Oceans program. The seven-week program fosters an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset in postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and faculty, inspiring teams to explore their ocean research idea in a new way and identify commercial opportunities.

HALIFAX, November 5, 2020 – Seventeen teams from three universities have graduated from the first-ever Lab2Market Oceans cohort. Beginning mid-September, the teams spent seven weeks taking virtual training to learn techniques to assess their research and ways to move it out of university laboratories.

ST JOHN’S, NL (September 21, 2021) – The Ocean Startup Project announces 22 new teams kicking off year two of the Lab2Market Oceans program in 2021. Lab2Market Oceans teams are made up of researchers from academic institutions across Canada, faculty supervisors and industry mentors. The teams will work closely with a group of instructors who will provide feedback and coaching as they undertake the seven week program.