Created from the alliance, in France, between Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) and RespectOcean, this challenge aims to:

• Develop and promote economically viable solutions for the protection of the oceans and its marine and coastal ecosystems ⚓;

• Give the opportunity to applicants to have their solution reviewed by a Committee of experts of the Blue Economy (the "Expert Committee")🔎;

• Train 10 finalists at the pitching technique in order to develop their presentation skills, and increase their chances to have their solution funded by investors🎙️;

• Reward the top three candidates during a Grand finale 🏆 ;

• Reward three additional solutions on the following themes "special prize for the preservation
  of marine biodiversity", "special prize for bio-inspired solutions", "special prize for early-stage solutions".

The competition is open to all "solutionists" for the Ocean which include French and international companies, startups, SMEs, for-profits, and projects can be at the idea stage, prototyped, or already on the market. Last year, 86 applications were submitted to Ocean Pitch with a long list of prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. The Ocean Pitch competition will select 10 solutions that will receive one-month of training to improve their pitches as well as exposure to a broad audience and network. Exact details on prizes for this competition are to be announced, but three separate prizes will be awarded:

• The "solution for marine biodiversity" special prize, in partnership with the Office Français de la Biodiversité (OFB)

• The "bioinspired solution" special prize, in partnership with NewCorp Conseil / Biomim'Expo

• The "early stage" special prize, in partnership with SOA 

This event is an official endorsement by the UNESCO #OceanDecade and with the support of the French Secretary of State for the Sea Hervé Berville.