AFRICA – NOW Accelerator by Norwegian Offshore Wind has announced the winners for the first offshore wind accelerator, which aimed to drive innovation in the global offshore wind industry.
Startups Safemore, Stormlinker, Bedrock Ocean, and Ocean Grid emerged at the top from the pioneering startups and scaleups that had been selected to present to leading offshore wind companies Å Energi, Corio, and Seaway 7 at this year’s Floating Wind Days, which took place on 29 and 30 May.
The presentation sought new floating offshore wind industry solutions, focusing on flexibility, scalability, low maintenance, and longevity.
“The NOW Accelerator is about challenging the status quo and creating groundbreaking solutions that can shape the future of the floating wind sector,” said Narve Hansen, Manager of NOW Accelerator.
“Thanks to our industry partners and the Open Innovation Platform Wazoku, we can scale and get the best startups globally to be involved. We are immensely proud of today’s winners, who represent the future of sustainable solutions.”
NOW Accelerator bridges the collaboration between startups and industry partners through innovation scale-up Wazoku, which provides its Platform and Crowd to facilitate an innovation eco-system.
Its Crowd comprises over 700,000 expert problem solvers, including engineers, technologists, start-ups, and academia, who have helped solve 2,500+ challenges.
“Our Crowd is the most advanced in the world at solving this type of challenge, and it was fascinating to see such cutting-edge solutions revealed at Floating Wind Days. All the startups were excellent, but the four selected were worthy winners,” said Schønning Eysturoy, Senior Director of Innovation Ecosystems at Wazoku
The NOW Accelerator journey began on 14 March 2024, when Å Energi and Corio launched the first Open Innovation Challenge, targeting “Floating Offshore Wind-Safe Solutions for Black Swan Events.”
This challenge called for sustainability startups to propose solutions prioritizing environmental and human safety, financial stability, and operational efficiency in the offshore wind sector.
“We received a large number of solution proposals for our challenge, and following a comprehensive evaluation process, we have concluded with three solutions meeting the challenge requirements the best,” said Roberts Petrovics, Senior Floating Wind Specialist Corio Generation, on behalf of Corio and Å Energi.
“The three solutions show great potential for deployment in floating wind and other industries. Furthermore, the three solutions are diverse and show great ingenuity by their developers.”
Additionally, Seaway 7 introduced an initiative focused on advancing Floating Offshore Wind (FOW) Mooring & Dynamic Cable infrastructure.
“We were pleased to have received responses from many startups and scaleups with interesting solutions that could unlock further optimization of mooring and dynamic cables for floating offshore wind,” said Helge Myrvold from Seaway 7.
The challenge winners presented their ideas on stage at the industry flagship event, Floating Wind Days in Haugesund, where more than 750 industry representatives worldwide participated.
“These innovative solutions represent a significant step forward in addressing some critical challenges faced by the floating offshore wind sector,” said Narve Hansen, Manager of NOW Accelerator.
Liked this article? Subscribe to DealStreet Africa News, our regular email newsletter with the latest news, deals and insights from Africa’s business, economy, and more. SUBSCRIBE HERE
