Fish 2.0 2017 Competition Opens West Coast Track with Investment Event in Seattle

April 4 workshop and reception for Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington seafood businesses focuses on building networks and sparking interest from investors and buyers

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The intensive workshop, open to seafood entrepreneurs from the West Coast and Alaska, provides coaching on how to communicate persuasively with investors and seafood buyers. It also gives participants opportunities to meaningfully connect with other innovative seafood businesses that could be key partners. To attend, entrepreneurs must register online and be invited.

“The workshop really opened up a new perspective for me on how I can improve my business and interact with investors” and was the “best investment training I’ve ever been to,” said two participants in prior workshops. “The accelerator I’ve been participating in was general, [so] it was really wonderful to have seafood-specific questions guiding me toward seafood-specific investors,” said another.

Entrepreneurs and investors meet, share insights

At the networking reception, investors and industry experts will get insights into emerging innovations and trends in the global seafood sector, as well as a chance to meet the participating entrepreneurs. Invitations to the reception are available by request from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Salmon Innovation Fund (SIF), an early-stage technology fund focused on rebuilding wild salmon populations, is co-hosting the workshop. SIF Managing Partner Brock Mansfield will keynote the reception with a talk on new ways the seafood and technology industries can work together to create a more sustainable future.

“The problems related to the long-term sustainability of seafood are well known, but the solutions are not. Identifying, testing and deploying the right solutions is going to require an increased commitment to creativity, innovation and working together,” said Mansfield. “That is the value of Fish 2.0, which brings together industry, innovators and investors to push each other toward our shared goal: increasing the populations and resilience of our global seafood resources.”

Other sponsors of the workshop and the Fish 2.0 West Coast track are Rabobank, a premier lender to food businesses; the law firm Lane Powell, whose client list includes several major seafood businesses; and the Rasmuson Foundation, a well-known social and civic grant maker in Alaska. All have a strong connection to Fish 2.0’s mission to build the sustainable seafood sector worldwide.

Rabobank is a returning Fish 2.0 sponsor. Manuel Gonzalez, head of Startup Innovation at Rabobank, had this to say about the decision to stay involved: “The seafood industry is already home to cutting-edge innovation, but there is more to do to ensure this important sector is sustainable from a business and environmental perspective. We want to be a part of the innovation dialogue so we can be a true partner and solutions provider to seafood companies in North America and around the world. Fish 2.0 is a great forum for knowledge exchange and networking that brings us closer to generating those sustainable solutions.”

Lane Powell believes that with the Pacific Northwest’s evolving focus on the relationship between environmental and human-influenced processes, the companies that succeed in the fisheries space will be those that innovate around sustainability. “For that reason, we are proud and very excited to support Fish 2.0 and the startups and emerging companies going through the program,” said Frank Paganelli, chair of the firm’s Startups group.

For the Rasmuson Foundation, supporting fisheries and sustainable seafood is part of the founding family’s legacy, said Diane Kaplan, the foundation’s president and CEO. “We encourage innovation in a wide variety of sectors that benefit the lives of Alaskans, including cultivation of homegrown sustainable businesses that diversify our Alaskan economy,” she added.

Over 60 percent of prior Fish 2.0 finalists gained new investment, partners or customers

The Fish 2.0 competition connects seafood businesses from around the world with investors and each other, giving entrepreneurs an opportunity to grow their local networks, gain international visibility, win cash prizes, find strategic partners, and attract new investments. Over 60 percent of the finalists in the most recent competition, Fish 2.0 2015, gained investment, new partners, or new customers from connections they made during the program. The competition takes place over several months and pairs participants with investors and business advisors who work with them on developing their business strategy and positioning their enterprise for investment.

“We raised about $3.5 million through contacts I made through Fish 2.0,” said Jacqueline Claudia of Colorado-based Love the Wild, a 2015 runner-up. “Fish 2.0 really helped us fine-tune our business model. It was the domino that fundamentally changed the trajectory of my business. This is a group of people on the forefront of pushing ahead what sustainable seafood means.”

“We raised about $3.5 million through contacts I made through Fish 2.0,” said Jacqueline Claudia of Colorado-based Love the Wild, a 2015 runner-up. “Fish 2.0 really helped us fine-tune our business model. It was the domino that fundamentally changed the trajectory of my business. This is a group of people on the forefront of pushing ahead what sustainable seafood means.”

The competition’s West Coast track is open to wild-capture fishing businesses, including supply-chain companies, based in California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The three highest-scoring businesses from the West Coast track will be invited to pitch to investors at the final event Nov. 7–8 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. There they will join the top finishers from five other regional tracks (Chile and Peru, New England, Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and South Atlantic and Gulf Coast Shellfish) and two global tracks (Supply Chain Innovation and Transparency and Traceability).

Investors, seafood industry leaders, foundations and economic development agencies support the competition and interact with participating businesses. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation are ongoing core sponsors of Fish 2.0.

Workshop participants are not required to enter the Fish 2.0 competition, but they will get a head start on the application and learn what investors want. Registration for the competition is open until April 29, 2017. Detailed information on the West Coast track and the workshop is available at http://www.fish20.org/westcoast.

About Fish 2.0

Fish 2.0 connects seafood businesses and investors to grow the sustainable seafood sector. Working through our unique global network, competition platform and events, Fish 2.0 participants collaborate to drive innovation, business growth and positive impact. Entrepreneurs meet potential investors, partners and advisors who help them accelerate impact and growth. Investors and experts get early access to investment opportunities and learn about emerging technologies and trends. And industry leaders gain direct access to sustainable seafood suppliers and partners.

Media contacts

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Sarah Grolnic-McClurg, Thinkshift Communications
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