Finals 20th August at Ruissalo Boatyard, Turku

A'Pelago Pitch Challenge calls blue economy ventures maximizing impact in reducing marine pollution and promoting protection, restoration, rewilding and resilience of sea region ecosystems.

The Winner benefits from:

  • Competing for €25,000 + Acceleration in the Turku Startup Prize 2026 (ScaleUp Track) Finals
  • Acceleration consultation by Netlight worth €5,000
  • Increased visibility and exposure
  • Mentorship from A'Pelago

Each Pitch gets 5 minutes.

A'Pelago Pitch Challenge 2026 Categories

Category I: Marine Biomaterials

Category II: Blue Food & Coastal Innovation

Category III: Ocean Tech

Category IV: Maritime Solutions

Main partners

supporting partners

This challenge aims to:

- Catalyze and promote economically viable sea conservation, climate resilience, marine pollution minimization and blue economy solutions for the protection of marine and coastal ecosystems 

- Give the opportunity to applicants to have their solution reviewed by a Committee of Experts

- Train the finalists at the pitching technique in order to develop their presentation skills, and increase their chances to have their solution funded by investors

- Reward the top candidates during the Finals at A'Pelago Initiative 2026, 20.8. in Turku, Finland.

Challenge Timeline

1 May - 15 June:  Application period

25 June: Finalists selection

20 August: The A'Pelago Pitch Challenge Finals, Winner selection and Winner Announcement. 

Please note that if your venture gets selected, you will be required to register and pay a discounted fee of 200€ to secure your entry to the event on 19-20.8.2026. The ticket includes lunch.

Participants and Winners are selected concerning the criteria below:

Business performance 

  • Commercial viability: Description of the financial maturity, market demand, potential business cases and time-to-market strategies for technology industrialization. Ensuring practical feasibility, attractiveness to clients, and long-term cost-effectiveness. 
  • Fundraising success: Successful fundraising as a marker of the start-up's ability to attract investment across development stages.

Innovation and Potential for disruption Industry applicability: 

  • Clear demonstration of how the innovation will generate measurable impact towards the focus areas of this challenge.
  • Technology readiness: Current technology readiness level (TRL), favouring higher TRLs, while acknowledging prototypes for novel solutions with longer development cycles. Assessing the time-to-market timeline of the innovations. 

Impact

  • Clear impact pathways: Clear narrative towards relevant stakeholders with expected measurable environmental and socio-economic impact linked to the innovation proposed.
  • Clear impact metrics: For instance, reduction of energy use, reduced footprints of CO2, water, land, and other environmental impact measures. 

Team

  • Team dynamics: Balanced team with visionary leadership and complementary skills across technical, business, and operational areas. Key traits include adaptability, clear vision for the company, resilience in the face of challenges, ethical considerations in technology deployment and ability to raise capital. 

Technical and operational competence

  • Deep technical expertise in the relevant domain, proven experience in R&D, understanding of the market and customer needs, and the ability to execute projects with efficiency and agility.

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