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. 

HALIFAX, NS (March 30, 2021) – The Ocean Startup Project has launched its second Ocean Startup Challenge. Up from last year’s $350,000 in prize money, the 2021 edition of the competition will award up to $1.4 million to ocean innovators and entrepreneurs from rural, Indigenous and urban communities, across Canada and internationally. 

HALIFAX, September 30, 2020 – The first-ever Ocean Startup Challenge has awarded 14 startup companies with $25,000 each to help the companies advance their technologies and increase market adoption. They will also receive industry support, including coaching from an Executive in Residence. The companies were among 31 shortlisted to attend online bootcamps, receive one-on-one coaching and pitch to the Ocean Startup Challenge final judging panel last week.