Canada’s Ocean Supercluster is seeking more applicants for its Accelerated Ocean Solutions Program, which is designed to foster short-term research and development and help stimulate economic activity.

First announced in May, the program was originally slated to spend $35 million to back small-scale R&D projects that could be brought to market in less than two years.

In an interview, Supercluster spokesperson Nancy Andrews declined to comment on whether the latest request for applications would involve additional spending beyond the $35 million, citing ongoing contract negotiations with earlier applicants.

“Because there was such an interest in the program, we felt it was important to go out again and allow people to resubmit, or get a submission in if they didn’t already,” she said.

In a statement, CEO Kendra MacDonald said: “We had an incredible response to our first call for proposals under the accelerated program in May that saw an influx of new OSC members and some very exciting new projects that we look forward to announcing in the fall.”

Based in Atlantic Canada, the Ocean Supercluster is one of the federal government’s national research superclusters, which are public-private partnerships targeting specific types of innovation. It is expected to spend about $350 million to fund oceantech R&D over five years.

Accelerated Ocean Solutions applications should fall within the themes of remote operations, environmental technologies, or computer technologies.

Projects will be assessed on the basis of their commercial potential, innovativeness, competitive differentiation, potential contribution to the broader ocean-tech ecosystem and the quality of planning involved.

The first step for entrepreneurs is to submit an expression of interest by Aug. 11 at 4 pm Atlantic time. Applicants whose projects interest the Supercluster will be contacted and given four weeks to submit a more complete proposal.