The Reef-World Foundation — the international Green Fins Initiative coordinator in partnership with the UN Environment Programme — has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2020 Con X Tech Prize.
The Con X Tech Prize provides opportunities for seed funding to anyone, anywhere to turn their new ideas for conservation into reality. The current round of the Con X Tech Prize attracted 167 submissions from around the world — including Uganda, Malaysia, Cameroon, the Philippines, Brazil, and more — and Reef-World has been named as one of the 20 finalists with the potential for exponential conservation impact.
The Grand Prize Winner will be announced by Conservation X Labs after finalists complete a 12-week prototyping period.
Reef-World’s entry is the development of the Green Fins Global Hub: a digital global solution to help dive professionals protect fragile coral reefs. This online support system will motivate marine tourism operators to improve their everyday environmental practices.
Reef-World says it has already completed market research and prepared a business plan, product requirement document and sustainable finance model. By the end of the 12-week prototyping period, the charity will have: drafted a design specification document; mapped out the evaluation and onboarding processes for members; developed wireframes for the onboarding process and key sections of the system; designed a visual mock-up of the user interface; and begun collaborating with software development agencies to ensure all outputs are realistic and achievable.
James Greenhalgh, Digital Strategy Manager at The Reef-World Foundation, said:
“We’re proud to have been shortlisted alongside these impressive conservation innovations. There is no other product like the Global Hub on the market and our market research shows strong industry demand for a service providing this type of solution. The Hub will enable operators to train and empower their staff to adopt better environmental behaviors and collaborate with other businesses. We’re excited about the project’s potential to benefit reefs globally.”
Tom Quigley, Community Manager at Conservation X Labs, said:
“The Con X Tech Prize is meant for opportunities just like this — where some funding and support through a prototyping sprint can help a product like Green Fins make a transformative leap in the scale of their impact. We’re excited to see what Reef-World builds over the prototyping period.”
Each of the 20 shortlisted teams have received US$3,500 (~2,955 Euros) to turn their idea into a prototype over 12 weeks. At the end of the prototyping period, one project will be awarded the $20,000 (~16,884 Euros) grand prize to support the future of their project.
Reef-World says it has already secured funding for this project from the United Nations Environment Programme, the Matthew Good Foundation, and G-Research and is continuing to fundraise to cover the remaining development costs.
To see the full list of 20 finalists, go to conservationxlabs.com.
