Recognition matters to a small research project mostly as a signal that the idea has been looked at seriously by people who look at a lot of ideas. 2023 brought three such signals, all to Kelp Island, the company that carried the commercial side.
Third Derivative took us into the climate accelerator
In the summer of 2023 the project was accepted into Third Derivative, the climate technology accelerator founded by RMI and New Energy Nexus, in Cohort 23-2. That brought mentors, a network of corporate partners and an early investment of $100,000 US.
The Climate Spotlight Award recognized the carbon case
At the Ocean Impact Organization's Pitchfest in Sydney in late 2023, Kelp Island won the $10,000 Climate Spotlight Award, presented by Star of the South. What it recognized was the climate argument: kelp farming paired with a building material that keeps carbon out of the air for the life of the structure.
Ashoka nominated us for the Earthshot Prize
In November 2023 the Ashoka Foundation nominated the project for the 2024 Earthshot Prize in the "Fix our Climate" category. The nomination made the full case: seaweed farming and SeaBrick carbon storage, scaled over decades, as a new carbon sink that does not displace any existing ecosystem. The prize went to projects further along. The nomination stands.
Two grants paid for research
Alongside those, the Government of British Columbia funded a feasibility study through the Construction Foundation of BC in 2023, Propel Fremantle awarded a $50,000 ocean innovation grant in 2024, and Canada's Ocean Supercluster gave a $25,000 Ocean Startup grant to validate a new waterproofing approach. That study is in Keeping the water out.