Fort Lauderdale, FL October 28, 2026 – The Ocean Exchange, a leader in accelerating innovative solutions for healthy oceans and a sustainable Blue Economy, announced the recipients of $450,000 in nondilutive awards at its annual event last week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The awards included two $100,000 Neptune Awards, one $100,000 Neptune Ocean Enterprise Award, two $50,000 Florida Environmental Impact Awards, and five $10,000 Collegiate Awards. A Canadian award was previously announced, bringing the total 2026 purse to approximately $525,000. (FULL PRESS RELEASE)
- Ignition Packaging, an ag residual biomaterial, represented by Abdurrahman Bejjaj – Neptune Award, $100k.
- AIMM (Advanced & Innovative Multifunctional Materials), a tunable sorbent for short chain PFAS, represented by Lauren Brown – Neptune Award, $100k.
- Subtidal, continuous buoy monitoring for toxic waterway blooms, represented by Casey Wilson – Neptune Ocean Enterprise Award, $100k AND a $50k Florida Environmental Impact Award.
- BeamSea Associates LLC, quantitative biological intelligence at scale for marine habitats, represented by Fraser Dalgleish – Florida Environmental Impact Award, $50k.
Five outstanding collegiate innovators received $10,000 awards in recognition of their work and contributions to the blue economy.
- EnviraCell, Ocean Exchange Collegiate Award Winner
- SeaHand Systems, Ocean Exchange Collegiate Award Winner
- Ocean Detect, Guy Harvey Foundation Collegiate Award
- Noble Deep, Oceaneering Collegiate Award
- Kaiyu Oceans, Florida Ocean Economy Collegiate Award







