Rising Tides: Earth Month
Sustainable Ocean Alliance
Mobilizing young people and solutions to restore the health of the ocean within our lifetime. ??
Welcome to Rising Tides —a LinkedIn-exclusive newsletter brought to you by Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) featuring the latest news and highlights from SOA’s growing network of 370+ ocean-based solutions and the innovative changemakers behind them.?
April is Earth Month —a time to raise awareness, accelerate action, and collaborate around sustainable solutions to the climate crisis for our blue planet.?As we approach a busy month for ocean-climate action, we are celebrating the ways this community makes every day Earth Day—from new Indigenous-led wave energy projects to cross-sector collaborations between sustainable packaging and the fashion industry .?
Dive in below.
CalWave Inc. , a California-based wave energy technology developer, has been selected as the technology provider for a wave energy project at Yuquot, British Columbia (BC) with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation (MMFN).
As a “first-of-a-kind” wave energy project for coastal community microgrids, the MMFN project may serve as a blueprint for coastal communities along the North American Pacific Coast and around the world. The indigenous-led project is currently in a feasibility and design phase to gather all the necessary information for the MMFN to make an informed decision on full project buildout.
Reusable packaging startup, Returnity Innovations , has announced that Vuori athletic company will begin utilizing the startup’s flagship ‘Last Box ’ program—a reusable shipping system that lowers the economic, operational, and environmental impact of retailer’s inventory fulfillment by replacing the use of cardboard boxes.
“We know that Vuori takes sustainability seriously,” says Returnity CEO, Mike Newman . “We are proud of our ability to empower Vuori to lower its environmental impact through the use of our innovative reusable packaging.”
This initial implementation of The Last Box will eliminate the use of over 100,000 cardboard boxes, cut packaging and operational costs, and reduce box unpack labor by 50%.?
Following this launch led by Vuori, Returnity is eager to partner with more retailers in the future.
rePurpose Global , a plastic action platform that empowers businesses to act on plastic pollution and accelerate circular solutions, has launched the Reuse Outcomes Fund —a $1 million prototype fund aimed at guiding the scale-up of waste reduction models, accelerating both measurable environmental outcomes and equitable access to solutions worldwide.?
This fund will finance the deployment and implementation of reuse solutions that address the critical need for reuse and refill infrastructure, with particular emphasis on supporting solutions that serve low and middle-income communities.?
With an ‘outcomes-based financing modality’, the Reuse Outcomes Fund ’s sole objective is to achieve measurable, additional, and verifiable environmental outcomes (i.e. tons of plastic waste avoided by reuse interventions)—prioritizing impact return over financial return.
Learn more about rePurpose Global’s impact in their recently released 2023 Annual Report .
Eco-engineering company ARC Marine? has secured ￡1 million from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) as part of a ￡2 million funding round, including a grant from Mulago Foundation and investment from Mercuria —one of the world’s largest independent energy and commodities groups.
This funding will enable the startup to expand its production in Cornwall and Devon of ‘subsea protection structures ’ (e.g., artificial reef cubes ) to meet the increasing demand of the sustainable blue economy.
OCEANIUM —biorefinery pioneers for sustainably-farmed seaweed ingredients—has appointed Benjamin Armenjon as its new Managing Director .?
Benjamin brings extensive experience in the commercialization of novel ingredients, guided by previous roles at ?nsect , Symrise Pet Food , and more—indicating the seaweed sector’s ability to attract talent and experience of such caliber. Benjamin will be instrumental in taking OCEANIUM to full-scale commercialization, securing Series A funding, and scaling of its proprietary seaweed biorefinery.?
“I am really delighted to be joining OCEANIUM at this exciting stage of its growth,” said Mr. Armenjon about the new role. “The company has already made significant progress on developing its ingredients and proving its biorefinery technology, and I am looking forward to being part of this skilled, passionate team to scale up and deliver real change.”
This milestone marks a significant step forward in OCEANIUM’s mission to provide efficacious, functional, and clean-label seaweed-based ingredients with excellent traceability and provenance, whilst contributing to human health and ocean health. With Benjamin’s leadership, the startup aims to increase production at 30% full plant size.
领英推荐
Introducing the Sustainable Ocean Alliance Ecopreneur Activate (SEA) Program
Unveiled by SOA Founder & CEO Daniela V. Fernandez at Monaco Ocean Week 's Ocean Innovators Platform , the SOA Ecopreneur Activate (SEA) Program is a new partner membership program designed exclusively for startup ocean accelerators, incubators, government agencies, competitions, investors, and beyond to access the full spectrum of support offered by SOA’s Ecopreneur Network —tapping into a legacy of accelerating groundbreaking solutions to the ocean’s most pressing challenges and setting a precedent for the development of solutions within the sustainable blue economy.
If you would like to learn more about partnering with the SEA Program , please fill out the form here and a member of SOA’s Team will send you more details on the membership levels and the financial commitment to join.
Please note: The SEA Program is designed specifically for organizations and not intended for individuals. For more ways to get involved at the individual level, we invite you to join SOA’s Online Community Platform—the Alliance .
Investment Opportunities in the Ecopreneur Network
If you are a mission-driven investor interested in connecting with and supporting any of our?startups that are fundraising, please email Camila Vega at [email protected] or Matthew Mulrennan at [email protected] .
April 10-12, UN Ocean Decade Conference (UNODC)
Today marks the first day of the UN Ocean Decade Conference (UNODC), gathering global leaders, policymakers, grassroots organizers, scientific experts, and ocean advocates alike in Barcelona to stimulate ocean science, advance scientific knowledge, reverse the decline of ocean health, and catalyze new opportunities for the sustainable development of our blue planet.
Sustainable Ocean Alliance is honored to partake in this global event alongside our network of young ocean leaders, ecopreneurs, partners, and beyond to “deliver the science we need for the ocean we want.”
April 15-17, Our Ocean Conference Greece (OOC-9)
Next week, Sustainable Ocean Alliance will co-host the 7th annual Our Ocean Youth Leadership Summit (OOYLS) in Athens, Greece, in cooperation with Our Ocean Conference (OOC-9) and with support from the Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy (MoEE). The Summit will welcome 100 young ocean leaders and run alongside the main Our Ocean Conference from April 15-17 and will embody the overall theme: ‘Our Ocean, An Ocean of Potential’.?
Explore the full array of activities for the Youth Leadership Summit, Main Conference , and official side events . Stay tuned for live updates from SOA throughout the Summit as we work together to restore the health of our ocean.?
April 21-27, SF Climate Week (SFCW)
Later this month, SOA is heading to SF Climate Week —a week-long climate gathering in the San Francisco Bay Area full of diverse, multidisciplinary events where organizers and supporters can connect, exchange ideas, and foster climate solutions.?
SOA is partnering on two blue innovation-focused side events open for registration:
Stay tuned for some exciting announcements to come from SOA following our side events by subscribing to notifications here .?
May 28, Ocean Pitch Challenge (OPC) Grand Finale
Next month, 10 finalists will pitch their solutions during the Grand Finale of the 4th edition of the Ocean Pitch Challenge , co-hosted by SOA and RespectOcean . Finalists will compete for top prizes before a jury .
Register for the Grand Finale virtual event here .?
Interested in sponsoring the Ocean Pitch Challenge? Sponsors benefit from high visibility, privileged access to the in-person finale, and the chance to play a key role in highlighting the finalists. Contact Benjamin Lesage at [email protected] for details.?
Thanks for reading!?
Stay tuned for future editions of Rising Tides , dropping the second Wednesday of every month.