econext partners with the Ocean Startup Project to stimulate clean growth innovation in Newfoundland and Labrador

For Immediate Release
August 16, 2022

St. John’s (NL) – econext is working with the Ocean Startup Project to highlight industry challenges related to Newfoundland and Labrador’s clean growth economy.

The partnership is part of the Ocean Startup Challenge which aims to uncover and support early stage entrepreneurial ideas or technologies in the oceans sector. The Ocean Startup Challenge will award approximately $750,000 to founders and teams across the country. In addition to the funding, winners will receive ocean-specific programming, mentorship, one-on-one sessions with Executives-in-Residence and industry experts, networking opportunities and more.

“Our province is home to a world class cleantech cluster, with much of our technology being oceans focused,” said Kieran Hanley, CEO at econext. “It is important to recognize and build on these strengths to help solve the problems that will help fight climate change and grow our green and blue economies.” Hanley said that partnering with the Ocean Startup Project to present Innovation Spotlights will help draw attention to opportunities particularly relevant in the Newfoundland and Labrador context.

Innovation Spotlights aim to inspire and encourage prospective entrepreneurs to develop cutting-edge technologies and solve real-world problems the ocean sector is facing. These Innovation Spotlights are areas where Canadian-based innovators can achieve significant wins based on capability, natural assets and skillset, while driving change within the industry that is more sustainable and efficient.

“We are seeing really strong momentum in Canada’s ocean startup ecosystem with net-new entrepreneurs, more research being commercialized and new ocean hubs being created to foster ocean technology,” said Donald Grant, Executive Director at the Ocean Startup Project. “What we know in Canada is that there is a deep, inherent knowledge of the ocean, world-class research occurring and an awakening appetite for sustainable, innovative solutions – and that is what we are intending to leverage through the Ocean Startup Challenge and Innovation Spotlights.”

The partnership is highlighting three industry challenges, including:

The development of a more reliable and lower-cost technology and/or process to monitor and manage the subsea assets of clean energy infrastructure that will withstand the challenges presented by the North Atlantic (e.g., icebergs, geology, weather conditions). More Info
The development of a technology and/or process that allows ports to maximize the role that they can play in electricity supply and demand management to the benefit of electricity grids. More Info
The development of a technology and/or process that allows for finding value in or alternative disposal methods for plastic wastes associated with aquaculture operations. More Info

Hanley said that the Innovation Spotlights were designed to align with emerging clean growth opportunities in the province, as well as with environmental challenges it is already facing. “The solutions that we develop right here in Newfoundland and Labrador can be exported and applied worldwide; we hope to spark the interest of creative and innovative minds here in this province by putting these forward,” Hanley said.

More information on the Ocean Startup Challenge and Innovation Spotlights can be found at https://oceanstartupproject.ca/challenge/. Applications for the 2022 Ocean Startup Challenge are open until September 1, 2022 at 11:59pm ADT.

econext is an association of businesses that accelerates clean growth in Newfoundland and Labrador, working on behalf of over 200 members to foster environmentally sustainable economic development. More information can be found at https://econext.ca.

The Ocean Startup Project inspires, initiates and invests, making Canada the best place in the world to start and grow an ocean venture. The project team creates and delivers activities to support ideation through commercialization, for innovators and entrepreneurs from industry to academia. The Ocean Startup Project offerings complement existing industry accelerators, incubators and other support organizations across Canada’s world-class innovation ecosystem. Together with our partners – Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), Genesis Centre, Innovacorp, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, PEI BioAlliance, Springboard Atlantic, Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies (COAST), and Technopole Maritime du Québec (TMQ) – the Ocean Startup Project is accelerating how homegrown startups get their technologies to market and attract international companies to Canada’s shores.