The Aquaculture Innovation Challenge (AIC) invited five promising innovations to advance to the final round, consisting of an intensive three-day boot camp and a live pitching event.
The judges scored the proposals based on their explanation of the targeted problem, solution and impact of their innovation. Other relevant criteria included their business model, financial model, activity plan and how ready the innovation is for investment. The following innovations have been invited to advance to finals:
- Autofeeder for shrimp hatcheries, an auto-feeder designed specifically for shrimp hatcheries, that is affordable and simple to use, making it accessible to even small-scale hatcheries.
- SUPA, a solar powered aeration device that transfers warmth to the bottom of the pond, inducing convection-based circulation and increasing the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. Needing no electricity, SUPA is relatively cheap to operate and can be used by remote and off-grid farmers.
- Venambak is an affordable ammonia reducer to the Indonesian shrimp industry, as the country ramps up production in order to meet bold production targets. Their innovation promises to mitigate the possible environmental damage created by a growing shrimp industry by offering a hybrid ammonia reducing product that requires less energy, creates less waste and is accessible to smallholder farmers.
- Vitomolt that promises to address the prohibitive price of feed, the threat of disease and the environmental impact of shrimp culture in Indonesia by adding phytoecdysteroid, a plant extract that mimics the molting hormone in crustaceans, to shrimp feed. The hormone has shown itself to increase protein retention rates, reducing the amount of feed needed.
- Wittaya Aqua, a platform that allows the user to input, organize and analyze multiple sources of data, efficiently. When combined with their proprietary growth models, it predicts growth, production and feeding requirements, reducing waste and labor costs.
Finalists will meet at Putri Island resort near Jakarta, Indonesia, from June 24-27 to get hands-on mentoring from business plan coaches and pitch gurus from the business, finance, science and civil society communities. The finals, a pitching event, will be held on June 28. There, finalists will pitch their innovations to the judges, coaches, seafood professionals and potential partners.
The AIC invites industry professionals to take part in the final pitching event. For more information, visit aquaculturechallenge.com or contact Sander Visch, sander@seafood-tip.com.
