14 Startups Saving our Oceans

I love the ocean. Unfortunately, I do not have a very science-y brain so Marine Biology was not the route for me. So instead, I made it my #1 bucket list item to become a diver!

I was so fortunate to finally achieve my childhood dream last summer (getting my diving certification) in the very chilly waters of Newfoundland (shoutout to Ocean Quest Adventures)!

Inspired by VivaTech’s session last week, I decided to compile a list of some super cool startups building solutions to save our oceans. I won’t be the brains behind saving the ocean, but I can sure do my little part (see below) and support startups who are! Side Note: loving this intersection of Tech + passion.

Left: A real-life mermaid emerging out of the cold cold waters of the Atlantic in Newfoundland. Right: Garbage collected as part of a Project Aware Cleanup.

The session

On the opening day of VivaTech on Stage 3, there was a session “Sourcing Solutions to Save Our Oceans.” The conversation was held between:

• Anne Marieke Eveleens — Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer of The Great Bubble Barrier
• Fionn Ferreira — “Inventor combatting microplastics — Chemistry Student — Forbes 30 under 30”

Did I take any notes? Are you about to read a great recap? No & no. Unfortunately, I was working working with the session in another tab (oh the joys of online events).

However, this session is what inspired me to begin this article so here are the 14 startups saving our oceans…

The solutions:

Beyond Coral Foundation — CHARM

CHARM stands for Coral Husbandry Automated Raceway Machine and is a coral framing robot that combines scientific research with computer automation in order to save time and “and grow resilient coral colonies at economies of scale”.

Coral Restoration | Beyond Coral Foundation | Tulum, Mexico

Coral Vita

Restoring our world’s dying coral reefs. Coral Vita protects threatened ecosystems by growing diverse and resilient corals and outplanting them into degraded reefs.

Home

CascadiaSeaweed

By simply cultivating seaweed in the ocean, we can help solve some of the biggest challenges humanity is facing today; climate change, economic instability and food security.

We are seaweed.

ECOncrete

Concrete solutions for responsible marine construction. ECOncrete meets the highest concrete performance standards and provides unique biological traits.

Home - ECOncrete

The Great Bubble Barrier BV

Cleaning rivers from plastic pollution with bubbles. Our bubble barrier catches plastic over the fu­ll width and depth of rivers and prevents plastic from ending up in the ocean. The system does not interfere with regular river activities and is operational 24/7.

The Great Bubble Barrier - The Great Bubble Barrier®

River Cleaning

Let’s clean the world from plastic by transforming the waste of the seas and rivers into VALUE!

River Cleaning - The revolutionary system for cleaning rivers

Australian Seaweed Institute

Protecting the reef from water pollution through seaweed biofilters.

Australian Seaweed Institute

Ashored

Innovations for profitable & sustainable ocean harvest. Ashored develops sustainability-enabling technologies for the commercial fishing industry.

Entanglements | Ashored

Ichthion

Ichthion has developed award-winning technology that can remove greater volumes of plastic from the world’s rivers and oceans than all existing technologies.

Ichthion | Effective strategies to increase circularity in cities based on data

Kavacha

Makes direct-to-metal coatings from fish waste that can protect marine vessels and structures in harsh environments. Its solution saves users more than 30 percent on material and labour, while increasing or maintaining asset lifetime and reducing toxin exposure.

Kavacha - Farmer's Armour™

Finless Food

Plant-based and cell-cultured seafood that changes how the world eats… and supports a thriving ocean.

Finless Foods

Cruz Foam

Cruz Foam can help you transition to compostable foam packaging solutions.

Cruz Foam - For the Ocean

Arc Marine

Reef Cubes®️ are the only carbon-neutral, plastic-free solution for marine habitat restoration in the world.

Marine | My blog

Notpla

Notpla is a revolutionary material made from seaweed and plants. It biodegrades in weeks, naturally.

We make packaging disappear

Want to find more?

Here are some great organizations/hubs working towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water):

• Angel.co
• Ocean Startup Challenge
• 1000 Ocean startups
• Ocean Startup Project
• The Sustainable Ocean Alliance
• COVE

Cheers!

Sincerely, your PADI-certified-I-want-to-go-diving-again-but-i-live-in-yeehaw-land-and-theres-a-pandemic-girl.

(PS. consider this the start of my unofficial bid to get into OceanTech ;))