Sustainable Ocean Alliance Nets $15 Million To Support Young Entrepreneurs

Sustainability Sustainable Ocean Alliance Nets $15 Million To Support Young Entrepreneurs Jeff Kart Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Jun 29, 2022, 07:31pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin At left, Innovathon winner Rafeah Mustafa Kamal of team Waste Vengers and Daniela Fernandez, founder .

. . [+] and CEO of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance Dianaquintela Saramatos for the United Nations Youth and Innovation Forum.

Pardon the pun, but a wave of funding has hit the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. This is the group that in 2019 said they planned to fund 100 new startups by the end of 2021. Well, they’ve more than doubled the initial goal, and announced the 223rd investment just the other day.

Actually, make that 224. What started with $1. 5 million from Marc and Lynne Benioff has blossomed.

“They made a significant investment and challenged other philanthropic leaders to match them, catalyzing $15 million in total funding, thanks to generous contributions from Resonance Philanthropies, Inclusive Capital Partners Foundation, Maja Kristin and other partners,” according to leaders of the alliance, based in California. MORE FROM FORBES Accelerator Plans 100 New Ocean Startups By 2021 By Jeff Kart Marc Benioff is co-CEO and chair of Salesforce. Lynne Benioff is a philanthropist active on boards of several organizations.

Together, the $15 million they’ve raised will be used to help “restore the health of the ocean in our lifetime,” the alliance says. Daniela Fernandez, founder and CEO of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance , billed as the world’s largest network of young ocean leaders and home to the first Ocean Solutions Accelerator, announced the big investment at the UN Ocean Conference Youth and Innovation Forum in Portugal. MORE FOR YOU Is Carbon Capture Another Fossil Fuel Industry Con? Sustainable Fashion Wants Brands To Redefine Business Growth Trouble With Predicting Future Of Transportation Is That Today Gets In The Way The $15 million will be used over the next three years to fund startups and community projects to develop technological and nature-based ocean solutions like converting waves into clean energy and planting mangroves to sequester carbon.

The nonprofit’s ultimate fundraising goal is $100 million. “The ocean has been humanity’s biggest protector against climate change —but it is rapidly approaching catastrophe,” Fernandez said at the forum. “We need to act now, before it is too late,” adding that the alliance is seeking new partners who share in the group’s vision and commitment.

The 222 previously funded solutions are highlighted in a video. The alliance digs further into the 222 in an impact report . They are “startups, nonprofits, and grassroots initiatives all over the world, each dedicated to restoring and sustaining the health of our ocean.

” And drumroll: The 223rd and 224th fundees are Invasea and Waste Vengers. An anonymous donor matched a $15,000 award to the 223rd team, the winner of an Innovathon held at the forum. It was first award made possible by the new funding, so the anonymous match means two teams ended up receiving support, bringing the total to 224.

The two are: Invasea, a solution focused on sustainable seafood, with members Sarita Fernandes of India, Donal Griffin of Ireland, Bodhi Patil of Canada, Juliette Audrey Biquet of Portugal and Andrea Paz Lacavex of Mexico. Waste Vengers, focused on ending waste entering the ocean, with members Saif-Eddine Laalej of Morocco, Rafeah Mustafa Kamal of Malaysia, and Dyna Kagendo Jamlick and Rahma Kivugo of Kenya. Jason Momoa , aka Aquaman, also was there.

Actor Jason Momoa arrives at the UN Ocean Conference Youth and Innovation Forum Dianaquintela Saramatos for the United Nations Youth and Innovation Forum Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website . Jeff Kart Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.