Apply now for Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2023

The Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2023 is a 1000 Ocean Startups member initiative. 1000OS is a global coalition of investors, incubators, and accelerators committed to backing a thousand ocean startups by 2030.

Ocean Impact Organisation has adopted the six Ocean Impact Areas defined in the Ocean Impact Navigator developed by 1000 Ocean Startups with support from SYSTEMIQ. The Ocean Impact Navigator is an open-source impact KPI framework, designed to simplify, harmonize and strengthen impact measurement and reporting for the Ocean Impact Innovation ecosystem.

Six Impact Areas

The six Impact Areas and example Indicators are:

• Sustainably Managed Ocean Resources: Preserving or restoring biomass; reducing seafood waste; ensuring welfare of marine life; producing ocean-based seaweed and bivalves.
• A Clean Ocean: Diverting macroplastic or primary microplastics from nature (or landfill); reducing, avoiding, or bioremediating nitrogen or phosphorus pollution; reducing other pollution; diverting contaminated wastewater from land-based sources from waterways; reducing or avoiding invasive species.
• Thriving and Restored Marine Habitats: Protecting or restoring areas of coral reefs, mangroves, seagrasses, salt marshes, kelp forests, or other habitats.
• Towards 1.5c: Reducing or avoiding GHG emissions; sequestering carbon; mitigating nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions.
• Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities: Protecting coastlines; ocean information products or services to support climate adaption and resilience; supporting people to adapt to climate change; enhancing food security.
• Positive Socio-Economic Outcomes: Creating jobs; enabling education/training programs; supporting or employing women; enabling fair and liveable wages; mitigating particulate emissions.

Why should you apply?

• $100k in Cash Prizes
  • $100K cash prize pool for the Winner, Runner Up, and four Spotlight Award Winners
• Pitch to Investors
  • Finalists will pitch to active ocean investors and representatives from 1000 Ocean Startups in an exclusive virtual demo day!
• Podcast Episode
  • Finalists will get to tell their story on a dedicated episode of the Ocean Impact Podcast, with accompanying blog post
• Social Media Exposure
  • Finalists will be celebrated broadly across OIO (and partner) social media, email newsletter, etc
• Dedicated Webpage
  • Finalists each get a dedicated webpage about their startup on OIO’s website, as well highlighted in press releases, blog posts, etc
• Attend Innovocean
  • Finalists will have the chance to attend their showcase event INNOVOCEAN in Sydney on 22 November 2023

Eligibility Criteria

• Pitchfest is open to applications from all over the world!
• Entrants must have the potential to significantly improve ocean health through their business model.
• Entrants must have the potential to grow their solution rapidly.
• Entrants are expected to have a refined business idea with some level of customer validation.
• Entrants must have annual turnover of less than $5mil USD, based on the last two full financial years.
• Entrants must be pursuing a profit motive business model.
• Entry is not open to not-for-profits.

Application Criteria

• Impact
  • Entrants must have the potential to significantly improve ocean health through their business model.
• Scalability
  • Entrants must have the potential to grow rapidly.
• Startup
  • Entrants are expected to have a refined business idea with some level of customer validation and annual turnover of less than $5mil USD.
• Structure
  • Entrants must be pursuing a profit motive business model. Entry is not open to not-for-profits.

Judging Criteria

• Potential for impact
  • Your solution must have the potential to significantly improve ocean health.
• Innovation
  • Your solution should be highly novel or unique.
• Product market fit
  • You must demonstrate a good level of product/market fit i.e. customers need your solution and your number of customers and/or customer pipeline is growing fast.
• Competitive advantage
  • Your business must be able to compete against existing competitors and fend off copycats.
• Business plan
  • You must have a realistic business plan and a high likeliness of generating sustainable profits.
• Team
  • You have the right balance of skills and experience to build your business.
• Great pitch video
  • You must be able to clearly articulate the problem you’re working on, the size of the opportunity & potential for impact, and why you have a great chance of being successful. Extra consideration will be given to applications with an attractive video entry.

For more information, visit Ocean Impact Organisation.