Four Canadian teams have won a collective $22,500 in the first-ever Ocean Communities Climate Challenge, a program designed to help businesses improve ocean sustainability.
The Challenge was presented by the Ocean Startup Project, a national organization that offers resources and support to help sustainability-focused startups. The challenge started in May, and supported startups focused on: monitoring and predicting ocean conditions; transitioning to become net-zero port communities; creating resilient communities with circular economies and preserving and leveraging natural assets.
The winning teams are:
- Ocean Aid, from British Columbia, which aims to use sonar and AI to detect and map locations of ghost fishing gear underwater so it can be retrieved;
- BioLabMate, from Newfoundland and Labrador, which replaces single-use plastic waste from research labs and medical facilities with ocean-based materials;
- Aquarius, based in Quebec, whose technology helps trawlers avoid scraping the seabed and reduce fuel consumption;
- And, Project R3D, based in Newfoundland and Labrador, which is working to recycle ocean plastic waste to produce filament for 3D printers.
Over the past three years, the Ocean Startup Project has funded more than 100 businesses, which have raised more than $17.3 million in equity investments and another $14 million in non-dilutive funds.
“I guess [the challenge] sort of did form as an idea in my head based on the needs I was seeing out in the ecosystem,” Natasha Legay, the senior program coordinator of the Ocean Communities Climate Challenge said in an interview.. “It took a team effort to bring it to fruition but it’s really great seeing the impact it’s having.”
Legay said that she wanted to highlight these innovative ideas at the community level.
The program partnered with organizations such as Yarmouth, NS-based Ignite, Rimouski, Quebec-based Novarium and Victoria’s Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies. Organizers also partnered with diverse coastal communities in several provinces. .
“What we’re trying to demonstrate with this is that innovation can happen anywhere,” Legay said. “It doesn’t need to happen in big urban centres or big city centres.”
According to Legay, many rural communities rely on traditional industry structures, such as fishing. Therefore, by consulting these communities, she said she believes that local innovators can accurately address issues such as climate change so that these traditional industries can be preserved.
“It’s one part of how you can create resilience in the community,” she said.
Over the next few months, Legay said that the program will help provide resources so that these companies can further expand and develop.
“From my perspective, I would love for these companies to go through our programming and to have a clear path forward,” she said. “I’m just really grateful for the support from the communities within this challenge.”
