Introducing the Ecopreneur Network

Today marks an organizational milestone for Sustainable Ocean Alliance . With the launch of the Ecopreneur Network and call for applications, we deepen our commitment to visionary startup founders.

Specifically, social entrepreneurs leveraging innovative solutions to benefit the ocean and our planet at scale.

In 2014, when I launched this global nonprofit as a 美国乔治敦大学 freshman, I could have never envisioned we would undergo such transformative evolution in under a decade.

My founding vision was to build a global network of young people restoring the health of the ocean in our lifetime through grassroots efforts, social sector initiatives, and policy advocacy.

Over the next three years, our network of grantees, hubs, and youth leaders grew. We were supporting projects across ocean impact areas and rapidly achieving astonishing, youth-driven ocean progress. And our unprecedented success had already attracted important investors.

At that inflection point, most leaders would have doubled down on their existing approach, continuing to build on their proven and established organizational model. But SOA has always prioritized continued growth and implementation of learnings over comfort and complacency.

Developing the SOA Dream Team

In 2017, I had the important realization that SOA could be doing even more in addition to our ongoing, social and public sector initiatives.?

The missing piece of the puzzle? Scalable, for-profit businesses whose success would speed up ocean impact to urgently combat the climate crisis.

SOA needed to tap into the private sector.

Given its reputation for breeding innovation, I relocated our organization to San Francisco in 2017.?

There, a mentor introduced me to another mentee. Our mutual mentor believed (correctly) that this individual had the passion, experience, and connections to help achieve this expanded vision.

That talented and passionate individual, Craig Dudenhoeffer , had studied evolutionary biology in undergrad and professionally had shepherded HUNDREDS of ecopreneurs through another first-of-its-kind accelerator.

Very quickly, we began dreaming and doing—primarily thanks to one amazing, early supporter.?

Marc Benioff , the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Salesforce , was an early believer in our mission and I’m so grateful for his faith in me and his shared passion for the planet and ocean.

As one of Silicon Valley’s greatest testaments to success, Marc’s unwavering belief in our shared vision gave Craig and me the fuel and funding to catapult from concept to creation.?

I brought the community I had built and the connections I had made with world leaders, scientists, conservationists, documentarians, governing bodies, and other key ocean entities.?

Craig brought Silicon Valley experience, intimate knowledge of the tech landscape, a vast pool of additional mentors and investors, and a mutual passion for safeguarding the ocean.

Together, with Marc’s backing, we would envision, build and grow a new program for SOA, unlike anything that had been attempted before in the ocean space. As we ideated, Marc likened our endeavor to being “the YC of the ocean.”

Craig was instrumental in building the framework for SOA’s Ocean Solutions Accelerator , which ultimately became the world’s first startup accelerator dedicated to ocean innovation.

Its stated purpose? Help entrepreneurs launch a for-profit ocean solution for the sustainable blue economy by providing funding, mentorship, and other critical resources to scale their ventures and amplify their impact.

As the first accelerator of its kind, its success spurred the development of similar programs across the ocean sector.

We were proud to serve as a model for the industry and to propel the rapid development of the sustainable blue economy. Growing steadily, it will be worth $3 trillion/year by 2030 and provide at least 40 million jobs according to OECD estimates.

The Ocean Solutions Accelerator

From 2018 to 2021, we accelerated five classes of ocean startups. The first wave of the program gave us valuable insights to inform our approach, and by 2019 we were ready to take another major step.?

We invited both the first and second classes of our accelerator to experience a one-of-a-kind, immersive experience—the Accelerator at Sea.

Aboard Lindblad Expeditions ’ Seabird Vessel, we welcomed mentors, investors, ocean conservation champions, creatives, deep ocean explorers, and founders. Together, we made lifetime memories of witnessing firsthand the beauty of Alaska.

On the vessel, founders from among our first 20 startups passionately pitched their early-stage solutions, honed their business models with the support of experts, shared experiences, insights, and challenges with one another, and received spontaneous investments to achieve their visions.

It also led us to launch an ocean-focused venture capital fund, Seabird Ventures . Named for the ship we held the Accelerator at Sea on, and initially built with the support of onboard investors, it represented yet another vehicle to fuel the success of our startups.

As our program continued to grow and deepen, the global pandemic prevented us from gathering social entrepreneurs in person. We adapted, as we always have and always will, supporting innovation and helping startups virtually to further our mission.?

This proved to be cost-effective for founders who’d previously found accelerator opportunity costs prohibitive. From 2020-2021, we accelerated an additional 25 startups across three more classes.

In sum, SOA has now invested more than $1.3 million dollars in 45 for-profit ocean startups from across 29 countries, who’ve together raised over $300 million in lifetime funding and positively impacted the trajectory of ocean and planetary health. And this is just the beginning.

Over the past five years, our founders across classes have shared so much feedback with us about the challenges they face in scaling their businesses, the impact SOA has had, and the differences they’ve experienced participating in our accelerator vs other accelerator programs.

A few key commonalities emerged across the data we had access to and the feedback we were receiving:

• Founders participate in MANY, generalized accelerator programs, lasting 4-5 weeks each.
• Opportunity costs to join any accelerator, (number one being relocation) are extremely high.
• SOA’s investors, mentors, and community are intimately familiar with the founders’ value propositions.
• SOA saves founders time and energy laying the groundwork—we all speak the same language.
• SOA’s informal alumni program upends traditional accelerator models of time-bound support.

Taking this valuable input into consideration, Craig, myself, and the entire team have been dissecting our first-of-its-kind accelerator program with a singular goal in mind: evolve to break the mold.?

Adapting to the Future

We asked ourselves: “What if our program was intentionally built to maximize value and ease of access for an entrepreneur, while formally extending the partnership and support across the entire lifetime of a business?”?

It hasn’t been done. Very few organizations have the resources or a funding/investment strategy that would support being involved from a pre-seed round through to later rounds or even an IPO.

But the infusion of $15 million in investments to SOA in 2022 and our circular funding model (where investments in startups will help SOA become self-sustaining over time), means we have the option to be bold.?

This evolution from the Ocean Solutions Accelerator to the Ecopreneur Network promises to be unlike any previous or existing program for ocean and climate founders that exists in the world.

Our new ecosystem of lifetime support eliminates many of the opportunity costs, helps founders make valuable connections, and extends the experience beyond a single, short-term class.

After all, “How much can you really change the trajectory of a business in 4 weeks, 8 weeks, or even a quarter?”

We brainstormed how to reimagine our offering to be a higher-performing and better program than what’s currently available to serve our founders.?

With the conclusion so well stated by Craig Dudenhoeffer , “Building a startup takes years and at SOA, we actually want to be along for the entire journey”.

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So if you are on a journey to become a successful founder of a startup driving ocean impact, we built this for you. Our program is best suited for ecopreneurs of all ages and geographies whose incorporated startup focuses on one or more of the following ocean impact areas:

1. Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Blue Carbon & CO2E Removal or Avoidance
2. Pollution Reduction: Circular Use, Waste Removal or Avoidance
3. Ecosystem and Species Preservation and Restoration
4. Blue Foods: Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Seafood Alternatives
5. Ocean Data, Literacy, and Research

Beyond the WHAT your solution solves, we’re also looking for a unique “WHY” you’re joining. To sustain the community we’ve already been building, we will seek those with a deep love of the ocean and a shared focus on establishing quality relationships.

Joining the Ecopreneur Network means you will make lifelong connections and your venture will have lifetime membership. In a perfect world, one day you’ll invest the money you’ve made through the wild success of your initial venture into a promising startup in our network, or become a mentor to those who follow in your footsteps.

The TRUE value of our one-of-a-kind accelerator alternative goes beyond an initial financial investment or brief commitment, and in addition to financing, includes core benefits such as:

• Investor Readiness & Fundraising
• Mentorship Support
• Access to SOA’s Partner Network
• Thought Leadership & Media Exposure
• And more!?

You have made it this far. Now, are you ready to Join the Alliance??

Visit SOA’s website to learn more and apply by August 1, 2023 → https://www.soalliance.org/ecopreneur-network