National Geographic and Sky Ocean Ventures’ Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge announces finalists

A total of 24 finalists from 13 countries are moving forward in the Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge, a global search for innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s single-use plastic problem. 

Launched in February 2019 by National Geographic and Sky Ocean Ventures, the challenge focuses on three strategic ways to address the growing issue of plastic pollution: identifying opportunities for industries to address plastic waste throughout supply chains, communicating the breadth of the issue through data visualisation, and designing alternatives to single-use plastics. 

Finalists have been selected by a panel of expert judges to move forward into the second phase of the challenge, where they will work to improve their solutions and prepare more robust submission packets for the judges.

Each finalist team will be assigned an expert advisor to provide guidance and feedback on their submission. 

Winners will be announced in December 2019 after the teams pitch their solution in person to the judges at National Geographic headquarters.

The finalists and winners from each track will be entitled to a share of the $500,000 prize purse with select finalists entitled to a portion of $1 million in investments from Sky Ocean Ventures. 

You can find out more on the finalists and learn more about their solutions to address plastic pollution at oceanplastic-challenge.org.