The five new business ventures generated by the inaugural “Our Oceans Challenge” (OOC) - the competition and acceleration program for innovative solutions to ocean industry and sustainability challenges - are attracting the attention of potential investors:
- Polymore: Plastic recycling tools to recycle plastic waste into useful products (Bart Bleijerveld en Laura Talsma, Better Future Factory)
- Protecting with Nature: Protect static steel constructions against corrosion making use of biological processes (Harald van der Mijle Meijer, TNO and Edwin Foekema, Imares)
- Z Ships: Zero emission vessels, boats and fleets (Jose Luis Gutierrez, Upcycle the Gyres Society)
- Slow Mill: Light wave energy converter (Erwin Croughs)
- COSWEC: Continuous Ocean Wave Energy Converter (Menno Broers)
The OOC was launched in 2014 by a growing coalition of maritime leadership companies, industry organizations and knowledge institutes, including the World Ocean Council (WOC). The OOC online platform catalyzed a community of nearly 500 active participants in the co-creation of 88 ocean business concepts to advance cleaner oceans and industries.
The OOC partners selected 16 entrepreneurs for business development support. The final 5 entrepreneurs were selected in late 2014 and received customized support for developing high quality business plans that are now being presented to potential investors.
The OOC will be on stage on 5 June 2015 at the Blue Business Forum (Lisbon, 3-5 June) in a session on “Our Oceans Challenge: Accelerating Innovation for Ocean Sustainability”. The WOC-organized session will outline the OOC process, outline the finalist ventures – with one of the startups being presented in detail, and describe the plans for the next OOC.
The second “Our Oceans Challenge” will be launched at the WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit (Singapore, 9-11 November, 2015). The SOS session will identify the new topics and partners for a second successful OOC to continue delivering sustainable development solutions in support of Corporate Ocean Responsibility.
For more information:
OOC: www.ouroceanschallenge.org
Blue Business Forum: www.blueweek.pt/en/events
Sustainable Ocean Summit: www.oceancouncil.org/site/summit_2015
WOC Outreach this Month
2 June: Session moderator at Artic Business Council (Oslo)
2-4 June: Panelist at Nor-Shipping (Oslo) for both Future of Energy session at the Agenda Offshore conference and for the Ballast Water Ocean Industry Podium session
4-5 June: Session co-coordinator at World Ocean Summit (Lisbon) session on Blue Opportunities/Blue Growth
8-10 June: Participation in Capitol Hill Oceans Week (Washington, D.C.)
11-12 June: Participation in IMO-GESAMP Workshop on Impacts of Mine Tailings in the Marine Environment (Lima) by International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Protection (GESAMP)
16-17 June: Participation in CIL-ISA Workshop on Exploitation of Minerals in the Area (Singapore) by Centre for International Law (CIL) and International Seabed Authority (ISA)
23-25 June: Participation in U.N. Global Compact+15 / ICC Business Association Forum on Sustainable Development (New York) by United Nations (U.N.) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
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