Ocyan presents results of accelerating cleantechs at Demoday

In an event held in early February at its headquarters, Ocyan welcomed the three cleantechs selected for its acceleration program, the Ocyan Waves Booster. Entrepreneurs from CarbonAir Energy, from Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Atlas Power, from Florianópolis (SC) and TidalWatt, from Santos (SP) could present the results of the acceleration journey and answer questions from mentors and from Ocyan’s Innovation Committee.

“We are very happy with the results of the new Ocyan Waves platform program, which will allow us to contribute to actions in the field of energy transition. During six months of work and exchange of experiences, we can celebrate our contribution to the ecosystem of startups that deal with this theme”, celebrates Patrícia Grabowsky, Ocyan’s Innovation Manager.

The first presentation was from the Atlas Power team, which develops innovative solutions for energy storage in batteries, with a focus on solar energy. They explained the concept, the use of the matrix, and the values of the project. “The cost is low, the durability is longer, and it is easy to adapt. Our goal is to launch battery as a service in the third quarter of 2023, says Diogo Seixas, partner at Altas. He also mentioned that the idea is at an advanced stage with technical validation. The challenge now is market validation and obtaining the green patent.

Then it was the turn of Mauricio Queiroz, from TidalWatt, a startup that generates electricity from ocean currents. “It is a new proposal that involves many technical studies. We are in the technical validation phase and intend to start trials soon. In our proposal, the energy generation is made from the capture of the energy that is generated by the natural movement of the existing currents in the oceans and rivers, which gives us the possibility to serve hydroelectric plants and clients from the offshore market, such as Ocyan,” points out the partner, who recalled that he has already been granted the green patent in Brazil.

Finally, the team from CarbonAir, the first startup in Brazil to develop technologies to capture and use CO2, presented the concept used for indoor environments, especially for commercial buildings. José Adolfo Oliveira, partner of the startup, emphasized the startup’s development in the program.

The event also featured a panel with Hudson Mendonça, MIT Reap’s Champion in Brazil, and Maximiliano Carlomagno, partner at Innociense, a consulting firm that helps Ocyan in the startup program. The debate highlighted trends in the energy sector, such as the emergence of startups known as deeptechs, the challenges in the relationship with large companies, and the roles of the players in an innovation ecosystem. The idea was to warm up the audience present and provoke them before watching the startups’ pitches. At the end, the startups and mentors received awards in recognition of their participation in the program.

Next steps

After the event, Ocyan’s Innovation Committee, formed by the CEO and other vice-presidents of the company, as well as the mentors, met to decide the paths to be proposed for each startup. The company will be able to make investments (in addition to the initial investment already made in this acceleration phase), establish partnerships or monitor the evolution of each one. It is very important to highlight that the main objective is to support the development of the startup for the innovation ecosystem, without necessarily moving towards a client-supplier or investor-invested relationship.

History

The Ocyan Waves Booster was created in 2022 as a new program of the Ocyan Waves platform and, over six months, provided 52 hours of mentoring and meetings, with debates and studies on the topics of market, product, business model, team and capital management.

The team included expert mentors, sponsor mentors and the company’s innovation team, as well as external guest mentors, such as Hector Gusmão, CEO and Co-Founder of Bolder, and Orlando Ribeiro, innovation consultant at Neo Okeanos and angel investor at Urca Angels.

In this first edition, 73 startups applied to the program, 20 of which passed the interview phase, seven advanced to the pitch day, and three were selected and accelerated.

“We are honored to know that we have contributed positively to the maturation of these cleantechs. The experience was of great development for both the startups and the members, who were able to have this direct contact with the entrepreneurs through mentoring. We will certainly reap excellent results in the future,” concludes Patricia Grabowsky, Innovation Manager at Ocyan.