Applicants are being sought for the third oceans cohort of the Lab2Market technology accelerator, which helps researchers commercialize their work.

Hosted by Dalhousie, Ryerson, Memorial and University of Manitoba, Lab2Market provides training and support to teams looking to start businesses based on research from Canadian universities. The oceans stream of Lab2Market is hosted by Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Since the oceans stream of Lab2Market 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 have interviewed 1,517 customers as they worked on finding product-market fit, and have raised more than $742,000 in funds. 

“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 of the Ocean Startup Project, in a press release.

“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.” 

The program uses the Lean Startup model, and is based on the similar and successful I-Corps (U.S.) and ICURe (U.K.) programs. Participants will spend time talking to customers, partners and competitors and testing hypotheses. It lasts seven weeks.

Paula Mendonça, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at MUN, said:  “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 is funded by the Ocean Startup Project through Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, Mitacs, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Springboard Atlantic.

Applications will be open until April 4, and prospective entrepreneurs can apply here.