Twelve technology-based business projects from the marine-maritime field of Galicia and the north of Portugal will receive support for their valorization and implementation through Sherpa del Mar, a European program led by the REDE research group of the University of Vigo and in which Campus del Mar and the R&D office also participate. This Tuesday the 12 winning projects of the first edition of its Sherpa Journeys entrepreneurship program were announced, an initiative with which the program partners want to help promote the creation of innovative products and services that bring high value-added solutions to real needs of the marine-maritime field.
The projects selected in this first edition stand out for their innovative grain component and offer high value-added responses to challenges such as digitization, sustainable use of resources, food safety and traceability, ecotourism or the protection and conservation of the marine ecosystem. Most are in the conception and prototyping phase, although entrepreneurial and inter-entrepreneurship initiatives are also present in more advanced stages of maturity.
All the selected initiatives will access a specialized and comprehensive support program, lasting 14 months, in which they will be accompanied by a manager specialized in promoting entrepreneurship and technology and knowledge transfer and will receive scientific-technical advice. During this process, they will have mentoring, training, networking sessions, as well as services and technical means to consolidate their development and growth. It is about creating a cross-border ecosystem of innovative entrepreneurship in the marine-maritime field and in the blue economy, which favors the generation of employment, synergies and business competitiveness.
Sustainable use of resources, food traceability, ecotourism …
Sectors such as aquaculture, canning, port, fishing or tourism are covered. The list of the 12 selected projects includes the MyUniSex project, coordinated by the Marine Research Center of the University of Vigo (CIM) and which proposes the production of unisex mussel lines on a large scale and on a sustained basis throughout the year. ActivaeAlgae, focused on the creation of cosmetic products of natural origin, based on microalgae extracts and with anti-inflammatory, moisturizing or protective properties against ultraviolet rays; Bima, directed to the development of technological solutions based on GIS and focused on improving the competitiveness of the port sector; Subgo, a virtual, augmented and mixed reality project aimed at research and scientific dissemination of underwater landscapes with applications in the education and ecotourism sector; ValBioSea, extraction for the selection of bioactive compounds, with high added value; DanteRoNPs, technology solutions for the removal of nano-plastics in the marine ecosystem; Fish & Food Technology, for traceability and food safety of fish products; Sailing For Science, focused on the creation of marine scientific tourism experiences; Container Over Board System, a container and buoyancy location system, that allows the generation of alerts that reduce the generation of polluting spills or possible risk situations for navigation or the marine environment; Blue Bioprana, biotechnology solutions that reduce environmental impact; ABZU Maritime Platform, a port operations platform; and Basemar, beacons with ecological anchoring for maritime signaling and for shellfish farming parks that offer data in real time.
As the first project selected, MytUniSex stands out, coordinated by the researcher of the Population Genetics and Cytogennetics Group (XB2) of the CIM, Ángel P. Diz., and in which Paloma Morán, Juan J. Pasantes and Sofía Blanco, researchers from the XB2 group, Estefanía Paredes, researcher at the Coastal Ecology Group, and Damián Costas, technician at the Toralla Marine Science Station (Ecimat), participate. MytUniSex will produce unisex mussel lines on a large scale and on a sustained basis throughout the year by implementing an intensive laboratory breeding program. The researchers envisage obtaining viands of intense orange hue, the most appreciated by the consumer and of great commercial value for the canning industry, or high-quality by-products and high added value, such as caviar. The project also seeks to promote the sustainable use of marine resources, offering an alternative that could reduce the need to harvest seed in the rocky intertidal zone. The MytUniSex project presents a proposal with a strong component in R&D and with a very advanced degree of development, since its leading promoter, Ángel P. Diz, demonstrates extensive knowledge of the technology presented and its associated products and ensures that “It is an innovative technology with a high potential on the market in the Euroregional marine-maritime field”.
More than 60 applications were received
Led by the REDE group and with the participation of Campus del Mar and the R&D Office of the University of Vigo, Sherpa Journeys also has the support of the Vigo Free Zone Consortium, the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN) and the universities of Santiago and A Coruña. On the part of Portugal, the Asprela Technology Transfer Association (UPTEC), the University of Porto, the Interdisciplinary Center for Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) and the Forum Oceano-Associacão da Economia del Mar participate.
In this first edition of the program, more than 60 proposals were presented to this initiative, which will be part of an online business ideas catalog, where they will be given the opportunity to gain visibility to establish contacts with potential collaborators and investors. This web directory will also be open to entrepreneurs who did not participate in the call. The only requirement is that the business idea is based in Galicia or in the north of Portugal and that it meets a need in the marine-maritime sector based on scientific-technical knowledge.
Source: DUVI