OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program // Apply before 5th March

OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program // Apply before 5th March

Oceans are the life support of our planet. They drive our climate, provide food, and water to all living things, and connect our continents. 

The annual value of the global Ocean’s Economy (formal and informal) is estimated at $2.5 trillion and was expected to grow substantially, doubling by 2030. 

However, our societies are already generating tremendous stress and strain onto these ecosystems and this vast untapped economic potential needs to be addressed in a radically more sustainable manner.

In line with this, OceanHub Africa has launched the second cohort of its 6-month acceleration program to support up to 6 of Africa’s most promising impact for-profit startups focused on preserving and restoring the health of the ocean. 

The application deadline for this programme is set for March 5th, 2021.

Why the Oceans? 

The need to save our oceans through innovation comes in the nick of time as Africa offers a particularly high potential in terms of Blue Economy developments, paving the way to ocean community-based resource management and offering an ideal ground to test and scale impact innovation. 

Africa’s Blue/ocean economy – three times the size of its landmass – is on top of the continent political agenda and seen to be a major contributor to continental transformation and growth, through knowledge on marine and aquatic biotechnology, the growth of an Africa-wide shipping industry, the development of sea transport and fishing, etc. 

To embark on the journey towards sustainable development in Africa effectively means we have to reach the SDGs within the planetary boundaries. 

The development of the Blue Economy is an immensely important first step towards creating Sustainable Development pathways that enables this. 

The world is currently falling behind and not only have to “try harder”, but must embrace a disruptive transformation that innovative technologies and new business models can drive – otherwise development will stall.

Hence the  OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program is on a mission to support ocean-minded start-ups with the express aim of nurturing an environmentally conscious and profitable economy that effectively mitigates the effects of global warming as well as the overexploitation and pollution of the oceans. 

Leveraging its highly qualified network of stakeholders and facilitators, it will deliver to the accelerated start-ups an online program that seeks out sustainable pathways yielding stable profits (ROIs) and avenues for scalable growth throughout Africa.

Become part of OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program  portfolio will allow you to:

• Unlock a network of leading ocean experts, mentors (entrepreneurs, investors, innovation experts, impact experts, scientists, lawyers, etc.), impact investors and potential clients
• Get support to fast-track your growth by acquiring new customers or running your first Proof of Concept, and scaling your business through commercial contracts and fundraises.

Find feedback from the programme’s previous cohort here

Service Package of the OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program Portfolio companies include:

• Up to $25k worth of cloud service from AWS Activate
• Free access to IoT prototyping from SigFox (Sqwidnet)
• Over $40k worth of mechanical engineering design software licences for prototyping and virtual testing from 3DExperience Lab
• Access to Dassault Systèmes, Amazon Web Services and SigFox international marketplaces and/or salesforce for finished products of accelerated startups
• And also advisory sessions with: Cullinans&Associates (international environmental law firm), BVPG (commercial and transactional law), Blue Oceans Partners (ocean impact Venture Capitalist fund), Ocean14 Capital (ocean impact Private Equity fund), WWF-SA, Dept of Oceanography University of Cape Town, EuroSIMA (oceantech experts) and more!

Mentorship & Support

• Hands-on mentorship from our team of mentors
• Tailored business skills and personal development 1 to 1 training
• Sales, administrative and HR support
• Access to our network of scientific, business, impact and investment experts from international corporations, foundations, universities and IGOs

A huge network

• Access to networking events and conferences, including a stand and stage time at the Ocean Innovation Africa annual summit
• Access to potential clients (market leads) for local expansion
• Access to our international network of ocean-impact incubators/accelerators to scale overseas
• Access to key external partners

Fund-Raising Support

• Support in preparing and running investor pitches, including training sessions with investors directly
• Support in structuring deals, including reviews by transactional and commercial lawyers
• Access to a large portfolio of impact investors part of our ecosystems (inc. Blue Oceans Partners, Ocean14 Capital, Finca Ventures, HAVAIC, Sky Ventures, AquaSpark, Fynd Ventures, Athelia … …) as well as corporate venture capitalist funds

This year, our programme will be operated remotely and delivered using online tools and communication methods.

Eligibility

• Your start-up is ocean-minded: it has a direct or indirect positive impact on the oceans (addressing climate change, pollution or overexploitation of the ocean)
• You are a for-profit and operate in Africa
• You have a scalable service or product available on the market or soon to be available on the market
• Your product or service is clearly innovative and/or your business model is disruptive
• You are looking for investments or new markets

Get more details about the program here! All the best