Hatch chief executive Carsten Krome, left, and BIM's Richard Donnelly, right, with Kranti Chand of shrimp monitoring start-up Aquamonk, which was voted Most Investible Business at the Hatch Accelerator Demo Day in Cork in 2018.

Start-ups sought for Irish aquaculture workshop

Ireland’s seafood development agency, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), has begun recruitment for an aquaculture accelerator workshop to be run later this year.

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The two-week programme, managed by aquaculture accelerator Hatch and funded under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), is taking place in the RDI (Research, Development, Innovation) Hub in Killorglin, Co Kerry this October.

BIM’s development and innovation manager, Richard Donnelly, said: “Last year’s aquaculture workshop, held in Dublin, resulted in three of the participating Irish businesses receiving significant capital investment and going on to join the Hatch Global Accelerator programme in Hawaii.

Many ideas awaiting discovery

“It’s clear that many more concepts and ideas await discovery and development in Ireland given the right environment, investment and focus.”

The programme is the third BIM aquaculture accelerator / workshop to take place since 2018. Start-ups on the programmes are diverse. Previous years’ businesses have included innovative technologies in salmon cage manufacturing to online trading platforms for aquaculture products.

Wayne Murphy, co-Founder and chief operating officer of Hatch, said: “We are excited to partner with BIM once again to create and drive more opportunity and innovation within the aquaculture sector in Ireland.

“The ultimate aim with this initiative is to grow, develop and support more early stage ideas and talent in what is the fastest growing food sector in the world right now ($230 billion).”

Helen Rea: BIM and Hatch are a natural fit for RDI Hub.

Global mentors

Ten start-up businesses from Ireland will have the opportunity to work directly with and receive mentorship from a global team of experts from aquaculture, fintech (finance technology) and marketing disciplines in October.

Helen Rea, programme manager with RDI Hub, said: “We are excited to welcome BIM and Hatch to Kerry later this year. The purpose of RDI Hub is to catalyse innovation and create high skilled ICT (information and communications technology) jobs and achieving these objectives is accelerated through cross-fertilisation of ideas and solutions across sectors. Consequently, partnering with BIM and Hatch on this important initiative is a natural fit for RDI Hub.”

The BIM aquaculture accelerator programme is taking place from October 5 to 16 in the RDI Hub, Killorglin, Co Kerry. Start-ups wanting to apply for the workshop can do so here.

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