Twenty-three teams selected to test bold ideas and explore pathways into Canada’s ocean economy

The Ocean Startup Project is thrilled to announce the 23 teams selected for the 2026 Ocean Idea Challenge, a national program that helps aspiring entrepreneurs test ocean-focused ideas, connect with industry to pursue customer discovery, and explore what it takes to build a startup in Canada’s growing ocean economy.

Designed for individuals and teams at the earliest stages of entrepreneurship, the Ocean Idea Challenge creates a low-barrier entry point for innovators ready to explore whether their idea has real market potential. Participating teams will take part in a customer discovery sprint, receive hands-on support from the Ocean Startup Project team, build connections with potential partners and industry leaders, and access up to $8,000 in funding to support early validation.

“The strength of this year’s applicant pool says something important about the momentum building in Canada’s ocean startup ecosystem,” said Natasha Legay, Ocean Challenge Director at the Ocean Startup Project. “More people are recognizing that ocean entrepreneurship is within reach. You can start with a strong idea, curiosity and a willingness to learn from the market. That growing accessibility is exciting, and it is exactly what the Ocean Idea Challenge was built to support.”

This year’s cohort was selected from 83 applications — an 18.57 per cent increase over last year — with submissions coming from across Canada, including British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Alberta, along with applications from several multi-province teams.

Selected teams are exploring a wide range of ocean opportunities, from aquaculture and marine safety to ocean data, coastal resilience, renewable energy, carbon removal and more. The 2026 Ocean Idea Challenge participants include:

• Aquadrone (QC): Delivering precise and safe dredging in challenging environments through an ROV-operated sediment suction system that enables targeted sediment removal beyond the reach of traditional equipment.

• AquaPath AI (PEI): Developing AI-assisted diagnostic support software for aquaculture histopathology that helps pathologists identify suspicious regions faster and reduce backlog during disease outbreaks.

• Aqua Sentry (BC): Developing a low-cost smart buoy system that acts as a check engine light for marine environments, using AI-driven analytics to enable accessible, real-time monitoring and anomaly detection.

• Argo (QC): Enabling real-time ship draft measurement through an automated solution.

• Belon Autonomous Inc. (NS): Developing a versatile autonomous marine platform and ecosystem for persistent Arctic missions, utilizing moving-mass architecture to ensure tactical stealth and mechanical resilience.

• BioBoom (QC): Developing a deployable bioreactor boom that biologically degrades oil autonomously, enabling offshore cleanup in weather conditions that prevent traditional response operations.

• CB Imaging (BC): Developing an AI-assisted system to automate measurement of ships’ infrared signatures, enhancing detection, monitoring and maritime security.

• CoastWise (BC): Developing a smartphone-based change detection application for coastal and riverine erosion monitoring, enabling non-experts in remote communities to conduct repeat surveys using a smartphone and reducing reliance on costly survey teams and specialized equipment.

• Inbridge AI (BC / QC): Transforming complex maritime regulations and operational procedures into real-time decision support and automated workflows through an AI-native platform that enhances safety, efficiency and environmental responsibility in shipping.

• Kasis Clean Water Inc. (BC / NB): Developing a redox-active material derived from chitosan that can be used in redox-flow batteries.

• Marine Critical Parts Supply Inc. (NL): Streamlining inventory analysis and procurement processes for vessel and offshore asset operators through an integrated platform that reduces downtime, delays and operational inefficiencies.

• Naavi Marine Intelligence (NS): Developing an edge AI system for small vessels that reduces cognitive overload and improves offshore safety by integrating with onboard instruments to deliver proactive intelligence, voice interaction and automated voyage logging.

• Nazara AI (NL): Building an AI-driven system for automated metocean data quality control that uses physics-informed machine learning to improve data accuracy in extreme offshore environments.

• Ochre Subsurface Inc. (NL): Improving fault identification in seismic data through an AI-assisted solution that helps offshore energy and carbon storage teams reduce subsurface risk and improve decision-making.

• Retide Labs (BC / ON): Improving global ocean cleanup efforts through AI and satellite fusion that maps plastic pollution and delivers audit-proof verification of plastic credits for a more accountable blue economy.

• SafeFish (NL): Helping small-scale fisheries improve safety at sea through an ocean intelligence platform that integrates satellite data, weather information and fisher knowledge to identify safer fishing areas and avoid environmental hazards.

• SeaGreen Solutions (NB): Producing seaweed-derived biochar and ocean-based bioproducts that permanently remove carbon while enhancing soil health, stormwater systems and low-carbon infrastructure.

• SentiShell (PEI): Enabling real-time risk detection for aquaculture lines with a self-powered tensile-tension sensor that provides alerts and predictive notifications for potential line failure from crop load and storm conditions.

• Sentry Labs (QC): Providing real-time detection of water pollutants and harmful algal blooms in aquaculture environments through deployable molecular sensing systems.

• Sulys (QC): Combining environmental DNA analysis and artificial intelligence to optimize aquaculture production and reduce mortality.

• Waefa (ON): Providing real-time trust verification for Arctic navigation, communications and power systems through an edge-deployed cyber-physical assurance platform that fuses multi-constellation signals with environmental context under extreme conditions and hybrid threats.

• WaveGen Technologies Inc. (ON): Delivering continuous renewable power to coastal and remote microgrids through ocean wave energy infrastructure that uses adaptive offshore systems to maximize energy yield.

• Zaab SeaMethanol (NL): Building modular, solar-powered systems that use photocatalysts to convert dissolved CO₂ in seawater into green methanol and hydrogen as a lower-carbon fuel alternative for shipping and industrial use.

Teams were selected through a competitive review process that considered the strength of their proposed solution, potential ocean impact, readiness to engage in customer discovery and the opportunity they are exploring. Throughout the program, participants will test assumptions, speak directly with potential customers and partners, and gather the evidence needed to determine whether to move forward, refine their approach or pivot.

The Ocean Idea Challenge has also become an important entry point into the Ocean Startup Project’s continuum of support. To date, 54 teams have completed the program, with 22 going on to participate in the Ocean Startup Challenge — meaning more than 40 per cent of Ocean Idea Challenge teams have continued building through OSP’s later-stage programming.

Learn more about the program and the Ocean Startup Project at oceanstartupproject.ca/idea-challenge.