Seafood Innovators Present To Investors, Mentors At UNCW-sponsored Workshop

Young seafood-related businesses from the East Coast had the opportunity Wednesday to spotlight their innovations – and their need for funding – to investors. The pitch session came at the conclusion of a two-day Fish 2.0 workshop for South Atlantic fisheries and aquaculture companies, held at UNCW’s Marine Science Center.
University of North Carolina Wilmington sponsored the workshop, billed as “an active community-building exercise where participants learn from their peers’ real-world experience as well as from advisors.” All the companies represented have some role in the sea-to-table seafood supply chain.
Fish 2.0 calls itself “the global community for seafood innovators” and conducts events all over the world aimed at fostering innovations in seafood sustainability. At the Wilmington event, 14 selected startups from North Carolina, Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Massachusetts spotlighted their businesses, which ranged from a traveling seafood raw bar atop a barge to an instrument that can measure corals in their natural habitats.
Each presenter gave a 90-second pitch and took questions. Outside the pitch session, they met with advisers and – if they were lucky –interested investors.
Two of the startups presented at the previous Fish 2.0 pitch session, held at Stanford University in the fall of 2017. Fish 2.0 founder Monica Jain invited them back to update the audience on their progress and to give them exposure to area investors.
Tags: 2018 Competition