Seed Fund recipients: helping ideas grow

Since 2018, the OFI Seed Fund has provided nearly 100 projects with financial support helping to advance innovative ideas in research, commercial and social concepts relating to the ocean in such areas as engineering, biology, aquaculture, environment and earth sciences.

What past recipients say about the Seed Fund:

I appreciated the flexibility of the Seed Fund program, not tied to any particular outcome, just pure, fundamental science

Great opportunity for projects that have large potential but no opportunity to be funded by traditional institution

Success stories

Read about our seed fund success stories by clicking here or about our most recent Ocean Literacy success story. Below is the full list of all seed funds that OFI have awarded.

Learn more about our seed fund projects

Small projects with big potential

How do you measure underwater noise, when the motors on your scientific instruments - which keep them from being swept away by the tides - are too loud?

David Barclay, Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University has a potential solution: build a hovercraft. With a recently awarded OFI Seed Fund, Dr. Barclay plans to build a self-piloting vehicle that travels to a designated area, turns off its engines, and measures noises produced by renewable tidal energy technology, all while silently drifting along. If the station floats too far away, it will automatically power on, travel back to the original spot, and repeat the process.

Dr. Barclay hopes that the hovercraft will allow companies and regulators to make underwater noise measurements in areas with strong tides. Once up and running, the station will automatically monitor our impacts on the ocean soundscape over an extended period of time.

The OFI Seed Fund criteria are broad, and we did that on purpose, says Paul Snelgrove, OFI’s associate scientific director. “We encourage innovative ideas that help us better understand the issues that challenge a sustainable global ocean, while we also seek solutions that generate economic and social benefits from all the ocean has to offer."

"We see an ocean of opportunity, and want to attract research projects that tap that potential. As the saying goes, good things come in small packages, and through OFI’s investment, we give these creative ideas an opportunity to grow.”