To quote NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D., “These figures show how essential the Blue Economy is to American prosperity.”
As promising as these signs of growth are, the realization of a creative and sustainable ocean tech industry is not without its inherent challenges. The barriers to entry for ocean tech innovators are many, including insufficient access to the right business, legal, and regulatory advice, alongside the constant pressures to eke out networking and funding opportunities. With the Blue Economy and the sustainable use of ocean resources for responsible economic development increasing on the geopolitical agenda, the need to foster a culture of ocean tech innovation and entrepreneurship is more pressing than ever.
This is where ocean accelerators come in.
Ocean accelerator programs provide startups seeking to bring innovation to market with some of the key resources needed to scale their proposed solutions. ON&T has been a long-time supporter of such events and recently forged an exclusive media partnership with Ocean Exchange, an established ocean tech accelerator now in its 13th year. To date, Ocean Exchange has helped facilitate more than $2 million in non-dilutive grants to startups as seed funding, typically at pre-revenue stage. In October, the ON&T editorial team was onsite in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Ocean Exchange 2024 for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes view of the technologies set to break the mold.
About Ocean Exchange
Ocean Exchange’s mission centers around two main focuses: (1) through an awards program and (2) by facilitating a networking ecosystem where companies can connect to market resources. Largely funded by private donations from Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Royal Caribbean, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, Oceankind, Marine Research Hub of South Florida, Oceaneering, Guy Harvey Foundation, Angus Littlejohn, Jr. Family, and others, awards finalists must present solutions that are cost-effective, manageable from a perspective of risk, and viable in terms of the resources needed for implantation being readily available.
Ocean Exchange CEO Millicent Pitts comments on the success of past finalists, “Since its creation, Ocean Exchange finalists have raised over $2.9 billion. Billion, with a capital B.”
“Of the $2.9 billion, 7% came from other grants—some of which were awarded by the US Department of Energy, 90% of the total amount raised came from 16 company finalists, and 10% came from another 108 company finalists.”
A few past notable finalists include Nature Metrics, Coral Vita, Ocean Twist Biotechnology, Symbrosia, Helix Power, and Minesto.
“While there are only three $100,000 prizes awarded at Ocean Exchange, the value to all finalists far exceeds that. In addition to cash awards, Ocean Exchange has created a unique networking environment open to all who compete to help connect them to business, government, or financial market resources that can move them along the path to commercialization,” Pitts adds.
Also significant to Ocean Exchange is the time contribution during the 4–5-week finalist review process, of which the donated time is estimated to carry a $250,000 value. Members of the review team are experienced leaders in business, academia, engineering, and the not-for-profit community.
Review team member Matthew Zimmerman, CEO of FarSounder, provides insight, “The Solutions Review Team combs through dozens of company applications, quantitatively ranking them, and then discusses them qualitatively as a group. One of the aspects of the review process that I found particularly impressive is that the selection was not simply adding up cumulative ratings and picking the highest numbers. When working with a team, each member views the companies from a unique point of view—it is important that nuances are not lost behind cold numbers. Ocean Exchange is very cognizant that great innovations often can’t be easily compared in an “apples to apples” approach.”
From behind the scenes, it was clear the opportunities that Ocean Exchange 2024 offered. During post-pitch breakout sessions, this small, intimate competition brought together subject matter experts, experienced entrepreneurs, and skilled technologists to discuss the solutions presented. Pulling from their experiences, the groups debated the potential impact of the technology or product, pointed out ways in which the company could improve, and challenged the process of typical thinking.
“Through my unique experiences at FarSounder developing its 3D Forward Looking Sonar technology into the products they are today, I’ve already stumbled through many of the hurdles these new companies will be facing. My experience as a Technical Founder and now CEO has given me insights into many of the R&D, service, customer development, sales, and financing challenges a hardware/software product company in the marine sector will experience. I’m hopeful that my feedback, as well as others, will be useful to finalists in their journey,” adds Zimmerman.
Finalists of 2024
Awards finalists for 2024 presented globally scalable solutions with applications that varied widely across the ocean sector.
- ADHERE GEAR WAVE (Spain): Eliminates food loss in cruise supply chains.
- Blaze Energy (USA, CO): Accelerating the adoption of alternative fuels.
- BLUEIQ (USA, MA): Low-cost acoustic monitoring for ocean management.
- Eyesea (New Zealand): Pollution database through crowdsourced reporting.
- KIDEMIS (Switzerland): Plant based aquafeed replacing fishmeal.
- Newlight.blue (USA, NY): Hybrid diesel-hydrogen retrofits for shipping.
- Oyster Heaven BV (Netherlands): Restoring oyster reefs as a nature-based solution.
- Phoenix Waste Solutions (USA, LA): Mobile waste to energy furnace.
- CarbonBridge Inc. (USA, CA): Converting methane and CO2 into renewable methanol.
- Nucleic Sensing Systems (USA, MN): Continuous-flow monitoring of eDNA.
- OnDeck Fisheries AI Inc. (Canada): AI software for sustainable fisheries monitoring.
- Seacork Studio (Canada): Acoustic panels from seaweed.
- Soarce, Inc. (USA, FL): Converts excess seaweed into high-performance materials.
- SynMatter (USA, FL): Sustainable coating additives for anticorrosion results.
- ZEM Fuel System Limited (UK): Marine fuel powered by ammonia.
Three awards were given out at Ocean Exchange. The two Neptune Awards were given to solutions that advance our understanding of the ocean and help minimize our impact on these resources, resulting in more resilient bodies of water, including healthy marine life and coastlines. The winners were Oyster Heaven BV and Phoenix Waste Solutions.
The Wallenius Wilhelmsen Orcelle ™ Award was given to the solution that holds the greatest potential to close the gap to their zero emissions ambition for either land or ocean operation. The winner was CarbonBridge Inc.
When asked about the impact of accelerator competitions such as Ocean Exchange, Blaze Energy finalist Rok Sitar shared, “One of the most crucial steps for an early-stage startup is connecting with key stakeholders, including ship owners, ports, shipyards, OEMs, classification societies, and others in the industry. An accelerator like Ocean Exchange provides both access and an international platform to engage with these stakeholders, accelerating the transition of an advanced technology or solution towards a first customer, development partner, and, ultimately, a market-ready product.”
Waiting for a Call
In 2023, the Department of Commerce and NOAA launched the Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerators program—a two-phase competitive funding opportunity. Phase One funded selected projects with up to $250,000 per project for accelerator program design. Phase Two, in which awardees have yet to be announced, invited all applicants selected in phase one to apply for funding of up to $15 million each to implement their program design.
Aimed at supporting small businesses, the program sought out accelerator programs supporting solutions in specific ocean-based climate resilience themes—marine carbon sequestration, ocean-based renewable energy, coastal resilience, and more—that provide spaces to improve and mature technologies, improve scalability, and attract investment capital.
In 2023, Ocean Exchange, along with its partners Braid Theory, World Ocean Council, and Seaworthy Collective, joined with Phase One awardee Tampa Bay Wave, (the group is called Catch the Blue Wave; Tampa Bay Wave is just one of three in that group), strengthening the accelerator’s impact and driving collaboration in the state of Florida, as its initial pilot, and then extending the program from coast to coast in the US. ON&T hopes to report soon on the outcomes of the Phase Two competition.
To explore more up-and-coming ocean tech, visit: https://oceannews.com/frontline/check-the-tech/
