Canada’s Ocean Startup Challenge has shortlisted 31 companies to compete for 10 prizes of $25,000 and in-kind support from partners.
“Applicants accepted our challenge by proposing creative solutions to solve industry hurdles, with more than a third of the shortlisted companies having ocean technologies in the earliest stages of development,” said Don Grant , executive director, Ocean Startup Project. “Another 19 shortlisted companies applied with working prototypes.”
The shortlisted solutions involve environmental monitoring, reducing marine mammal entanglement in fishing gear, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, technologies to reduce corrosion and biofouling, networks of sensors and analysis tools, sustainable bait alternatives, vision systems, underwater communications and IoT networks, value-added by-products, fish health, and much more.
Nearly two-thirds of shortlisted companies proposed ways to overcome challenges in fisheries and aquaculture. Many of them touched on other challenge areas too, including a fifth of the applicants bringing forward solutions to address healthier oceans, more sustainable transport, and enabling technologies. Additionally, several proposals included solutions to topics in the bioscience and energy challenge areas.
All the shortlisted companies are encouraged to attend invitation-only, virtual bootcamps and will stand to benefit from guidance and support from partnering organizations in the Atlantic Canadian ecosystem. The training is designed to arm the innovators and entrepreneurs with the skills to get their solutions to the next stage and prepare for pitch sessions to the final judges.
“We were pleased by the breadth of applications, and the overall response from coast to coast to coast within Canada, and from around the world,” added Grant. “The quality and influx of applications reinforce the momentum and opportunities in this country’s ocean sector.”
The shortlisted companies are:
The Ocean Startup Project, driven by Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, is a pan-Atlantic collaboration between Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) – Atlantic, Genesis, Innovacorp, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, PEI BioAlliance, and Springboard Atlantic to create and grow high-quality ocean technology companies.