Research Teams Invited to Apply to Ocean Startup Project’s Lab2Market Oceans Program
February 23, 2022 | News Release, Uncategorized
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.
The program is part of the Ocean Startup Project, hosted by Memorial University, and supported by Springboard Atlantic, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and Mitacs. Facilitated by world-class experts, teams learn entrepreneurial methodologies and business best practice with topics such as customer discovery, market sizing, stakeholder engagement, intellectual property, regulatory processes, revenue stream, cost structure, and more.
“Canada is assuming a global leadership role in the Blue Economy and its post secondary institutions are developing sustainable ocean solutions that have significant commercial applications,” said Don Grant, Executive Director at the Ocean Startup Project. “That’s why Lab2Market Oceans is such an important program – it provides ocean researchers with marketable skills, new perspectives and opportunities for their research to make an impact beyond the lab and in commercial markets.”
Since the program launched in 2020, a total of 38 teams have participated, 24 of which have continued to pursue entrepreneurship through commercialization or accelerator/incubator programming. Participants interviewed 1,517 customers to date and have raised more than $742,000 in funds.
“Innovation and entrepreneurship are core values at Memorial University, and as program host, we are thrilled to play an active role in the creation of ocean companies across Canada,” said Dr. Paula Mendonça, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Memorial University, who oversees Lab2Market Oceans. “Whether or not teams commercialize their research, participating faculty and students complete the program with a significant competitive advantage; they gain a thorough understanding of customer challenges, make strong connections to industry leaders, and gain marketable skills that will set them apart in their professional careers.”
Lab2Market Oceans applications are open from February 23 to April 4, 2022.
More information, including the application, can be found at oceanstartupproject.ca/lab2market-oceans.
Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend one of four program information sessions:
- February 28 at 9am PST/ 1pm AST/ 1:30 NST
- March 9 at 11am PST/3pm AST/ 3:30pm NST
- March 15 at 1pm PST/ 5pm AST/ 5:30pm NST
- March 23 at 3pm PST/ 7pm AST/ 7:30pm NST.