The Ocean Startup Project is delighted to announce Dr. Paula Mendonça as its new Executive Director. Dr. Mendonça’s appointment marks a significant stride towards fostering innovative, sustainable solutions and building a robust ocean startup ecosystem in Canada, while advancing the country’s role in the global Blue Economy.

The Ocean Startup Project proudly welcomes the 19 groundbreaking teams selected for the fourth cohort of its Lab2Market Oceans program, which kicks off today.

The seven-week program, hosted by Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, is poised to cultivate an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset among postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and faculty, propelling teams to reimagine their ocean research concepts and uncover potential commercialization opportunities.

The Global Startup Ecosystem Report Climatetech Edition is now live and the Ocean Startup Project is listed among the Global Top Ecosystem Players in the #BlueEconomy! Launched at @COP28UAEOffical in Dubai, this data-driven report by @Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network, together with Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, Cleantech Group, La Zone Bleue, and Mississippi Development Authority presents expert insights into startup activity in Cleantech and the Blue Economy and provides key knowledge for entrepreneurs, support organizations, and policymakers.  

It is with mixed emotion that we announce that Don Grant stepped down as the Executive Director of the Ocean Startup Project effective today. He felt it was important to stay until OceanFest launched successfully yesterday in Montréal. Don has accepted a new position and is leaving our amazing team to work with a private sector company.

MONTRÉAL (July 13, 2023) ― National and regional organizations that support and drive Canada’s blue economy gathered today in Montréal for OceanFest 2023. Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, the Ocean Startup Project and Novarium rallied to hold this first-time, in-person event that focused on entrepreneurship and early stage oceantech companies. OceanFest took place as part of the annual Startupfest, which over the past 13 years has earned billing as one of the world’s must-attend startup conferences.

Four early stage teams have won a total of $22,500 in the first-ever Ocean Communities Climate Challenge, presented by the Ocean Startup Project ― a national organization making Canada the best place in the world to start and grow an ocean company.

During Ocean Week Canada and on the heels of World Oceans Day, the Ocean Startup Project with the support of its partners launched a call for applications for its fourth cohort of Lab2Market Oceans.

In alignment with other Lab2Market Validate programs, Lab2Market Oceans is a 16-week program (8 weeks fulltime) that welcomes virtual participation by graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and recent graduates from any Canadian university, nationwide.

CANADA, (March 28, 2023) – The Ocean Communities Climate Challenge is a new competition to find promising ideas that may only be a ripple in an innovator or entrepreneur’s mind. The Ocean Startup Project and its partners want to transform strong ideas into massively scalable companies that will improve the health of our oceans and help solve some of the most pressing climate challenges.