Cape Town-based impact accelerator OceanHub Africa helps to accelerate innovative impact-driven start-ups in Africa to protect Oceans by providing a platform for ocean-conscious entrepreneurs has announced the second cohort of shortlisted candidates to take part in its prestigious African Impact Accelerator.
In an official press statement, OceanHub Africa explains that there is untapped potential within Africa’s blue economy and indicates the positive offset of investing in this sector.
“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. We believe it is down to businesses to implement that change and up to us to promote more Oceans-conscious innovative businesses: innovations led by science, technology, and entrepreneurship will provide the necessary leverage points to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), at the right pace and scale.”
The accelerator programme is aimed at impact-for-profit startups which are focused on preserving and restoring the health of the ocean.
Taking place virtually this year, the programme has selected six innovative and driven entrepreneurs out of a total of 130 applications from 24 countries in Africa.
As an integral step towards growing the blue economy, the programme will provide selected participants with mentorship, product development training, access to business engineering, access to market leads along with technical support in both IoT and AI development, marketing, and more.
The accelerator provides support from start to finish, from integral business model development training to connecting participants with OceanHub Africa’s extensive network of investors.
The selected participants
OceanHub Africa has selected the below Ocean-minded entrepreneurs to take part in its six-month accelerator:
- Ailars David, cofounder of Arena Recycling Industry from Tanzania: offering Eco-building materials made from recycled plastics waste, for Construction projects using polymer-sand technology.
- Matthew Bray, CEO of Brayfoil Technologies from South Africa: increasing the performance and reliability of wind turbines by working with turbine manufacturers to implement patented morphing wing technology into their devices.
- Victor Boyle-Komolafe, cofounder Givo from Nigeria: creating a circular economy for communities in Africa, by leveraging technology to collect and process recyclables into consumer and industrial goods.
- Eva Shitaatala founder of Green Ocean Namibia, from Namibia: facilitating accessibility of sustainable fish products and creating decent income for small-scale fishermen in Namibia.
- Never Mwambela Zekeya founder of Plant Biodefenders Limited (Vuruga Biopesticide) from Tanzania: offering VURUGA BIOCIDE, an effective, affordable, and safe biopesticide to achieve management of pests, profitable crop production, and reduced pollution of runoffs entering the ocean.
- Nonso Opurum, cofounder of Soso Care from Nigeria: reducing plastic pollution and improving access to quality healthcare for millions of Nigerians by offering low-cost health insurance accepted by 1,000 hospitals and which uses recyclables as premium.
