The pandemic has led the pan-regional Ocean Startup Project to cancel its in-person Engage Café events and allow virtual participation through a weekly #OceanofOpportunities webinar series.

The interactive webinar is designed for those who have ideas for ocean companies and technology solutions. The first webinar, at 12 noon AST on Thursday, April 2, will feature Julie Angus, CEO and co-founder of Open Ocean Robotics.

“Business as usual is next to impossible right now, and our webinars are an important avenue for connecting with more Atlantic Canadians than through our in-person events,” Don Grant, Executive Director of Ocean Startup Project said in a statement.

"We are especially eager to reach entrepreneurs from industry and innovators from academia, including students, researchers and faculty, as well as people who want to leverage Atlantic Canada and the incredible resources this region has to offer."

Like the original Engage Cafés that occurred in several cities, the new webinars will aim to inspire Atlantic Canadians to consider ocean entrepreneurship or to focus their existing startups on solving identified challenges the industry must overcome.

The webinars aim to share success stories of local and international ocean innovators and inform people of new funding, programs, and other supports available for early stage ocean startups.

Just last month, the pan-regional Project was launched by Canada’s Ocean Supercluster with collaborators including Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) - Atlantic, Genesis, Innovacorp, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, PEI BioAlliance, and Springboard Atlantic. The Project's initial aim is to focus on interacting with entrepreneurs from industry and innovators from academia to identify ideas and companies with potential to solve sector challenges. Later, the Project’s focus will shift to acceleration and incubation programs to prepare the companies for success.

For more information and details on how to join the webinar, visit here here.