Australia’s nonprofit Ocean Impact Organisation (OIO) this week announced the return of the Ocean Impact Pitchfest, a global initiative to find, support and accelerate startups working on solutions to transform ocean health.
Startups from across the world can apply for the chance to win a A$50,000/~US$34,812/~€34,071 cash prize for first place with an additional A$50,000 to be awarded to businesses working on specific ocean challenge and opportunity areas.
This year will also include Spotlight Awards, worth A$10,000/~US$6,960/~€6,814 each, presented by Zip Water (Plastic Pollution Solution); Dicker Data (Ocean Monitoring Solution); Austral Fisheries (Sustainable Ocean Harvesting Solution) and OIO’s Philanthropy Network (Ocean Climate Solution).
This year will also see the addition of the inaugural New South Wales Ocean Innovation Award funded by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.
OIO Co-Founder and CEO Nick Chiarelli said:
“We’re excited to be back with another edition of The Ocean Impact Pitchfest. Since launching the project in 2020 we’ve seen incredible growth in the global ocean impact innovation ecosystem and us as an organization. We’re constantly inspired by the amazing startups out there taking matters into their own hands to solve some of Planet Ocean’s great challenges. We can’t wait to see what this year’s Pitchfest unveils.”
To date, over 400 startups from more than 45 countries have applied to the program with broad diversity in the ocean challenges and solutions each is addressing.
The Pitchfest Winner, Runners Up and Spotlight Award recipients will be announced live at “INNOVOCEAN,” OIO’s new flagship event to showcase innovative new ocean health technologies. The event will take place at Sydney’s Australian National Maritime Museum on November 24th, 2022.
The event will also incorporate live pitches from startups participating in the Ocean Impact Accelerator Program 2022. Six startups from Australia, Asia and the USA will illustrate the progress they have made throughout the 7-month program and pitch for investment to build their innovative enterprises.
The deadline for applications is September 20th, 2022. Interested persons will be asked to complete a simple online form before being invited to submit an up to 3-minute pitch video.
For more information and to apply, go to ocean-impact.org.
