The World Ocean Council has joined forces with The Ocean Opportunity Lab (TOOL) to advance ocean innovation and investment, with a focus on creating targeted opportunities for WOC Members.
Through the TOOL Spawn platform, WOC and TOOL will connect ocean entrepreneurs and their solutions with ocean industries and their specific challenges. The TOOL Spawn platform is already connecting people to projects, including WOC’s Glofouling Project on biofouling solutions.
What this new partnership means:
- Accelerated Investment connecting TOOL’s finance community to WOC’s Ocean Investment Platform
- Matchmaking for project collaboration with WOC Members via TOOL Spawn
- Digital Event Space through the TOOL Aquarium, with discounts for WOC members
- Innovator Resources for WOC members and partners
This partnership also complements the efforts of WOC’s Global Blue Economy Innovation Initiatives Network, which brings together accelerators, incubators, challenge competitions and startup hubs focused on the sustainable ocean economy.
To launch the partnership, WOC and TOOL are co-hosting the Innovation Network’s first Roundtable of 2022:
Decarbonizing Across the Ocean Sectors: Path to the Clean Energy Transition
February 17 | 8 am -or- 5 pm CET | Livestream
Cargo owners, shipowners, fisheries, aquaculture companies, and related investors will share their challenges in reducing maritime emissions. Participants will then split into breakout groups to discuss possible solutions and present their findings at the end of the session.
This is a great opportunity for ocean innovators to learn from and collaborate with the market. If you’re a blue economy accelerator/incubator/hub and would like to participate directly in the session, please register to join the WOC’s Global Blue Economy Innovation Initiatives Network.
All others are invited to watch via livestream. There will be 2 sessions available: At 8-10 am and at 5-7 pm CET.
This session is the first of 4 quarterly Innovation Initiatives Roundtables for the year focused on decarbonizing ocean sectors. Additional sessions include:
- Existing solutions: Defining the most interesting solutions/JIPs on the market, which ocean sectors they address, and the challenges to implementation (5 April: During Nor-Shipping)
- Needed solutions: Identifying the most promising early-stage decarbonization solutions that are applicable across ocean sectors
- Connecting problem owners with solutions providers and investors: Connecting ocean industries seeking decarbonization solutions to innovators and investors who can help them reduce emissions.
About the Global Blue Economy Innovation Initiatives Network
The network gathers the growing number of ocean sustainability accelerators, incubators, competitions, and startup hubs for knowledge-sharing and collaboration on initiatives. The network currently includes ~100 unique members, connecting their ocean sustainability solutions to the right markets.
Goals of the Innovation Network:
- Connect innovators to ocean business and industry
- Increase support for startups and SMEs in the ocean innovation ecosystem
- Increase investment community awareness of ocean innovation initiatives/organizations through the WOC Ocean Investor group
- Foster coordination and the exchange of best practices
If you’re an ocean accelerator/incubator/startup hub and would like to participate in the Innovation Network, please register to join here.