OceanHub Africa (OHA), the first and only ocean impact-focused business accelerator on the continent has chosen six ocean-related businesses.
The Ocean Health Alliance (OHA) is an ocean-impact catalyst initiative that supports ocean-impact ventures through an acceleration program and the leadership of a global ocean-minded ecosystem. OHA promotes a sustainable and prosperous economy that would effectively reduce overfishing, pollution, and the effects of global warming on the oceans.
OHA has expanded throughout Africa and is now based in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, which is home to a strong ecosystem for scientific, technological, and business capabilities and is at the confluence of three seas. OHA delivers its curriculum both online and in-person through a weeklong Bootcamp.
The six startups were chosen from 128 applicants from 33 countries. They include South Africa’s SeaH4, which provides the maritime industry with a scaleable decarbonization alternative to fossil fuels, Ethiopia’s Happy Pads, which creates eco-friendly feminine hygiene products, and Nigeria’s Eja-Ice, which provides small-scale fishers in Nigeria with solar-powered refrigeration systems and cold chain services.
The remaining members of the cohort are Nigeria’s Think Bikes, which makes electric cargo bikes tailored to meet the needs of small businesses across various industries, Kenya’s Kumbatia Seafood, which offers small-scale fishers access to markets, capacity building, cold-chain facilities, and financing options, and Nigeria’s Scrapays, a waste management service that offers people the support they need to launch, grow, and scale their mini-recycling businesses.
During the week of September 19–24, the cohort took part in a hybrid Bootcamp with an emphasis on bonding, peer learning, and capacity building. The OceanHub Africa staff trained the chosen business owners, and they also heard from knowledgeable outside speakers.
The accelerator’s staff, mentors, and partners will continue to support the blue startups that were chosen over the coming months as they expand their businesses through product development, access to business, engineering, and scientific expertise, access to market leads, and practical services from corporate partners.
The chosen businesses will complete the acceleration program at the Ocean Innovation Africa Summit the following year and join the OHA alumni club, which gives them access to further mentoring, financing, and networking opportunities as needed.
