Research Teams Invited to Apply to Ocean Startup Project’s Lab2Market Oceans Program
NEWS FROM Ocean Startup Project
CANADA, (February 23, 2022) – The Ocean Startup Project, a national organization making Canada the best place to start and grow an ocean venture, has opened applications for the third cohort of its Lab2Market Oceans program. The seven-week program fosters an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset in postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and faculty, inspiring teams to explore their ocean research idea in a new way and identify commercial opportunities.
The program is part of the Ocean Startup Project, hosted by Memorial University, and supported by Springboard Atlantic,Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and Mitacs. Facilitated by world-class experts, teams learn entrepreneurial methodologies and business best practice with topics such as customer discovery, market sizing, stakeholder engagement, intellectual property, regulatory processes, revenue stream, cost structure, and more.
“Canada is assuming a global leadership role in the Blue Economy and its post secondary institutions are developing sustainable ocean solutions that have significant commercial applications,” said Don Grant, Executive Director at the Ocean Startup Project. “That’s why Lab2Market Oceans is such an important program – it provides ocean researchers with marketable skills, new perspectives and opportunities for their research to make an impact beyond the lab and in commercial markets.”
Since the program launched in 2020, a total of 38 teams have participated, 24 of which have continued to pursue entrepreneurship through commercialization or accelerator/incubator programming. Participants interviewed 1,517 customers to date and have raised more than $742,000 in funds.
“Innovation and entrepreneurship are core values at Memorial University, and as program host, we are thrilled to play an active role in the creation of ocean companies across Canada,” said Dr. Paula Mendonça, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Memorial University, who oversees Lab2Market Oceans. “Whether or not teams commercialize their research, participating faculty and students complete the program with a significant competitive advantage; they gain a thorough understanding of customer challenges, make strong connections to industry leaders, and gain marketable skills that will set them apart in their professional careers.”
Lab2Market Oceans applications are open from February 23 to April 4, 2022.
More information, including the application, can be found at oceanstartupproject.ca/lab2market-oceans.
Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend one of four program information sessions:
About the Partner Organizations:
Ocean Startup Project inspires, initiates and invests, making Canada the best place in the world to start and grow an ocean tech venture. The project team creates and delivers activities to support ideation through commercialization, for innovators and entrepreneurs from industry to academia. As a co-funded, pan-Atlantic collaboration, the Ocean Startup Project offerings complement existing industry accelerators, incubators and other support organizations across Canada’s world-class innovation ecosystem. Together with its founding partners – Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), Genesis, Innovacorp, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, PEI BioAlliance and Springboard Atlantic – the Ocean Startup Project seeks to accelerate how homegrown startups get their technologies to market and attract international companies to Canada’s shores.
The Lab2Market Program is Canada’s national-level research commercialization program led by Ryerson University, University of Manitoba, Dalhousie University, and Memorial University. Lab2Market is made possible with support from the Government of Canada through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), Prairies Economic Development Canada, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), Mitacs as well as the Ocean Startup Project and Ocean Supercluster.
Memorial University of Newfoundland is a multi-campus, multidisciplinary university dedicated to creativity, innovation and excellence in teaching and learning, research, scholarship and public engagement. With campuses in St. John’s and Corner Brook, N.L., and Harlow, Essex, U.K., Memorial University welcomes students and scholars from all over the world, including more than 18,000 students from nearly 100 countries. Memorial’s inclusive community is committed to fostering and promoting ingenuity while contributing knowledge and expertise locally, nationally and internationally.
Founded as a living memorial to our residents who died during the First World War, Memorial University has a special obligation to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and is responsive to their professional and personal aspirations. To take a closer look at Memorial, visit www.mun.ca.
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster is a pan-Canadian, industry-led transformative cluster focused on tackling some of the biggest challenges across ocean sectors through a collaborative program designed to accelerate the development and commercialization of globally relevant solutions, while also building a highly-capable, inclusive workforce. The Ocean Supercluster has approved more than 60 projects with a total value of $320 million which will deliver more than 110 new made-in-Canada ocean products, processes, and services to sell to the world.
Springboard Atlantic is Atlantic Canada’s commercialization network. We represent the collective academic research and development expertise of 19 universities and colleges across the region. We act as a bridge between academia and industry bringing world class ideas to the marketplace and drawing in industry challenges to be solved. With over 10,000 researchers, 30 industry engagement professionals and over 6000 research deals done in the last 3 years our model stands alone in Canada as an example of collaboration.
Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit research and training organization dedicated to advancing collaborations between industry, academia and government in Canada, and to fostering international research networks between Canadian universities and the world.
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency works to create opportunities for economic growth in Atlantic Canada by helping businesses become more competitive, innovative and productive, by working with diverse communities to develop and diversify local economies, and by championing the strengths of Atlantic Canada. Together, with Atlantic Canadians, ACOA is building a stronger economy. For more information, please visit www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca.
Media Contact:
Laurie Snell, Director of Marketing and Communications, Ocean Startup Project
lsnell@oceanstartupproject.ca, 902-220-2544
