With a goal to encourage practical solutions for Florida’s ocean and coastal environmental challenges, the applications are open to global solutions that demonstrate how the solution can be applied to Florida. The awards support startups with technologies, services, data systems, and programs with potential for strong measurable positive impacts on waterways, coasts, water quality, habitats, fisheries, and resilience in South Florida, but with the possibility of global scale that will attract investors and strategic stakeholders necessary for success.
A subset of the Ocean Exchange Review team, the Marine Research Hub selection committee, will determine the solutions within the applications that meet the criteria for the Florida Awards. A single applicant may be eligible to receive both an Ocean Exchange Neptune Award and a Florida Impact Award if the submission meets the eligibility criteria.
Now in their 15th year, Ocean Exchange has awarded $2.9 million in non-dilutive funds to innovative solutions for healthy oceans. Ocean Exchange’s 170 finalists over 14 events have gone on to raise $3.3 billion via grants, impact/vc investment, and exit transactions.
“This new award program reflects our growing partnership in South Florida, not merely as a venue for our Ocean Exchange event, but as a platform to catalyze positive change in the State of Florida for healthy oceans and coastal systems. We continue to believe that innovation, using Florida use cases, can be seen as best practices to promulgate globally,” said Millicent Pitts, CEO, Ocean Exchange.
“We are delighted to partner with the Marine Research Hub and fund two new Ocean Exchange awards to support globally scalable solutions to Florida’s environmental challenges. The ocean is an important resource and economic engine in Florida, and our hope is that we can encourage feasible solutions with near-term applicability in Florida,” said Wayne and Lucretia Weiner.
“Adding to our support of Ocean Exchange through these awards is an exciting opportunity to accelerate deployable solutions to tackle challenges facing Florida that will also catalyze economic growth,” noted Katherine O’Fallon, Executive Director, Marine Research Hub.
