The Blue Economy CRC is proud to once again support the 2021 Ocean Impact Pitchfest.
The Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2021 is a completely virtual, global initiative to find, support and accelerate innovative solutions that can transform the health of the ocean.
Startups, entrepreneurs and innovators working to improve the health of the ocean from around the world are encouraged to apply for the chance to win cash, prizes, support and the chance to accelerate your ocean impact.
Applications are now open for The Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2021 with $150,000 in cash prizes, including $50,000 for the Pitchfest Winner, and $150,000 worth of additional products and support.
Additionally, this year, HP and OIO are launching Generation Impact – a new program to find, empower and enable Australia’s young innovators who can help transform the future of ocean health.
The HP Generation Impact Incubator is open to young ocean impact innovators aged 35 and under residing in Australia with $50,000 in cash prizes, including $40,000 for the Generation Impact Winner, HP technology and expert mentorship from HP Australia and OIO to help bring your ocean impact innovation to life.
Co-founded by entrepreneur Nick Chiarelli and environmentalist Tim Silverwood (ex CEO, Take 3 for the Sea), the event aims to discover, showcase and celebrate innovations and innovators with the passion, drive and potential to have a significant positive impact on Planet Ocean.
“We developed OIO to help people start, grow and invest in businesses that positively impact the ocean,” says Chiarelli who has worked with startups for most of his career. “I’d seen all manner of startup accelerators and incubators emerge for specific areas like FinTech, MedTech, RegTech etc but nothing existed for the ocean.” Chiarelli says of the origins of OIO.
“Given how fundamentally important a healthy ocean is of our own survival, there was a gaping hole and a huge opportunity for Australia to become a global leader in accelerating scalable ocean solutions.”
OIO Co-founder Tim Silverwood, said of the organisation’s results to date, “We’re thrilled to see so many passionate entrepreneurs and innovators across the world applying to our programs to help accelerate their solutions and in doing so, help to transform ocean health. Our goal at OIO is to accelerate 100 ocean startups in 5 years and play our part in an emerging global ecosystem to accelerate 1000 ocean startups in 10 years.”
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