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In this podcast episode, Abigail interviews Benjamin, founder of Azul Bio and participant in the Ocean Pitch Contest by the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. 

The discussion focuses on Benjamin's startup, which aims to save coral reefs from extinction caused by ocean warming. Benjamin explains the importance of coral reefs for ocean life and human livelihoods and describes Azul Bio's innovative solution: coral microbiome boosters. 

These boosters enhance the heat tolerance of coral reefs, helping them survive and recover from bleaching events. 

Benjamin highlights the technical aspects of their solution, the potential impact on global coral conservation, and the importance of collaboration with other coral restoration organizations. 

The conversation also covers the business aspects of Azul Bio, their funding journey, and the future prospects of their technology.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:22 The Problem: Coral Reef Extinction

00:55 Understanding Coral Bleaching

01:35 Human Impact and Coastal Protection

03:34 Azul Bio's Innovative Solution

04:13 Microbiome Boosters in Detail

09:21 Field Application and Testing

13:06 Business Model and Partnerships

16:59 Challenges and Future Plans

26:08 Funding and Competitions

30:52 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Welcome to Happy Planet! 

Our guest this week is William Calvert, co-Founder and CEO of the NYC based startup, Return to Vendor. William is a fashion designer and entrepreneur who has lived in Paris, and Italy and designed for the likes of Balenciaga before getting the fashion-tech bug about 10 years ago. 

His first foray into the field led him to create fabric out of down for an Italian company and now he's 100% focused on 100% circularity. He and his partner are recycling abandoned nylon fishing nets (and thereby helping to clean up the ocean) and turning it into primary material that can be turned into fabric, buttons, zippers and more. The idea is to make 100% nylon garments (or suitcases or shoes) so they at the end of their life span they can be fully recycled and turned back into new products. 

William shares his business ideas but also his thoughts on how we can be better consumers and what the fashion industry might look like a decade from now. 

When I contacted William, I was looking to sidestep from the ocean for a moment to check in with other industries. But when I discovered William was procuring nylon from fishing nets I realized that, in the end, everything comes back to the ocean. Including every other breath.

We are going to take a break for the summer and will be back after Labor Day with interviews with the top three winners of Sustainable Ocean Alliance's 2024 Ocean Pitch Challenge. 

I am so grateful for all of your support. We have a growing awareness footprint and now we are regularly solicited by people hoping to be a guest on Happy Planet. Thank you for your part.

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Happy Planet Wednesday! 

The weather has been so beautiful in Maine lately that I am going to bring you all here to my home state. Today we’re going to speak to Marianne Naess, a Norwegian native living in Maine who, with her husband, has co-founded Katahdin Salmon, a soon-to-be scaled salmon aquaculture farm that intends on bringing Norwegian quality salmon to the Northeast corridor, without the carbon footprint. 

As Maine is known for its seafood, Marianne and her husband assumed setting up their fish farm along the coast would be a breeze. Reality proved different and after quite a bit of well publicized pushback from wealthy coastal residents, their proposals were denied.

Fortunately salmon are anadromous, meaning they can thrive in fresh or salt water, and so Marianne and her husband were able to look for alternative locations « up country ». They eventually found a happy home in Millinocket where they have received a warm welcome from the community and the green light to finally build their operations. Along the way they have signed a joint venture with members of the Penobscot  tribe to manage their brood stock facility. 

 Listen on Apple , Spotify, YouTube, our website, or pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts!

I'd like to thank our sponsors:

Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Bold Ocean Ventures have partnered to create a mission-driven venture capital fund, supporting the growth of innovative, sustainable ocean-related businesses.

Startup Marin Skincare has rocketed thanks to products made with Maine-lobster-derived glycoprotein that work on eczema and dry skin. Former guest on our show and co-Founder Patrick Breeding is offering listeners a 20% discount on their skincare products. Type HAPPYPLANET into the coupon code field!

Spark No. 9, ensures that companies - and startups - have successful product launches by testing their products online. Remove the guesswork before you launch!

 Promotional and program partners include Oceanovation, Investable Oceans and Bright Tide.

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Happy Planet Wednesday! 

Could eating farmed redfish be the answer to building coastal resilience in Florida? Founder Megan Sorby would like to think so. 

Megan and her husband co-founded Pine Island Redfish. True to its name, they grow growing the much-loved but highly protected redfish for the commercial market on Pine Island, a Florida Island with an agricultural tradition. And they are using the waste water to grow hydroponic mangroves to restore the Florida coastline.

Listen on Apple , Spotify, YouTube, our website, or pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts!

 I'd  like to thank our sponsors:

Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Bold Ocean Ventures have partnered to create a mission-driven venture capital fund, supporting the growth of innovative, sustainable ocean-related businesses.

 Startup Marin Skincare has rocketed thanks to products made with Maine-lobster-derived glycoprotein that work on eczema and dry skin. Former guest on our show and co-Founder Patrick Breeding is offering listeners a 20% discount on their skincare products. Type HAPPYPLANET into the coupon code field!

 Spark No. 9, ensures that companies - and startups - have successful product launches by testing their products online. Remove the guesswork before you launch!

  Promotional and program partners include Oceanovation, Investable Oceans and Bright Tide.

Megan Sorby
Pine Island Redfish

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Happy Planet Wednesday! 

Pack your bags, we're headed to Kenya! This week we'll be speaking to Anga Mbeyiya, a South African seaweed entrepreneur whose company, Ole Blu, is transforming seaweed into biostimulants to help rural farmers adapt to climate change.

While her company is still young, it's also already having a big impact both socially and economically. They're buying seaweed from a woman run cooperative seaweed farm, running demo farms themselves, and working with well over 400 small farmers to help improve their crop yields. 

Anga has big plans and shares her insights into the blue economy in Africa, as well as what it's like to be a female entrepreneur there. 

Listen on Apple , Spotify, YouTube, our website, or pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts!

I'd like to thank our sponsors:

 Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Bold Ocean Ventures have partnered to create a mission-driven venture capital fund, supporting the growth of innovative, sustainable ocean-related businesses.

 Startup Marin Skincare has rocketed thanks to products made with Maine-lobster-derived glycoprotein that work on eczema and dry skin. Former guest on our show and co-Founder Patrick Breeding is offering listeners a 20% discount on their skincare products. Type HAPPYPLANET into the coupon code field!

 Spark No. 9, ensures that companies - and startups - have successful product launches by testing their products online. Remove the guesswork before you launch!

 Promotional and program partners include Oceanovation, Investable Oceans and Bright Tide.

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Happy Planet Wednesday! 

If you live on the coast, this is a podcast you might want to pay special attention to. Matt Campbell, President of NatrX, is joining us today to talk about his nature-based solutions for building coastal resilience. 

 Thinking you need to protect your community from rising sea levels? Rather than building a wall along the coastline, Matt thinks you might have better results looking to solutions off-shore where you can harness the power of nature to build coastal resiliency. 

Matt's philosophy spoke to me because as an oyster farmer, my motto was "nature works well when you let it." Tune into this podcast and Matt will change your perspective, and maybe your plans, for saving your coastal community. 

 Listen on Apple , Spotify, YouTube, our website, or pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts!

 I'd like to thank our sponsors:

 Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Bold Ocean Ventures have partnered to create a mission-driven venture capital fund, supporting the growth of innovative, sustainable ocean-related businesses.

 Startup Marin Skincare has rocketed thanks to products made with Maine-lobster-derived glycoprotein that work on eczema and dry skin. Former guest on our show and co-Founder Patrick Breeding is offering listeners a 20% discount on their skincare products. Type HAPPYPLANET into the coupon code field!

 Spark No. 9, ensures that companies - and startups - have successful product launches by testing their products online. Remove the guesswork before you launch!

 Promotional and program partners include Oceanovation, Investable Oceans and Bright Tide.

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Happy Planet Wednesday! 

This week's guest, Elizabeth (Liz) Muller is Co-Founder of Deep Isolation. While living in France, was impressed by France's nuclear power program, which provides nearly 70% of the country's power, with zero carbon emissions. The problem was, and it still is, the waste. 

 Today, over 490,000 metric tons of nuclear waste is located in above ground temporary storage. And no spent nuclear fuel anywhere in the world has yet been placed in a permanent repository. We just keep producing more nuclear waste without an agreed upon long term storage solution.

When Liz returned to the United States, she wanted to see the US grow its nuclear power footprint, but not before solving the increasingly critical nuclear waste problem. So, with the help of her physicist father, that is what she set out to do. 

 Whether you're for or against nuclear power - or somewhere in between - I think you will find this story compelling. It certainly challenged some of my assumptions and gave me a lot to think about. And, if Deep Isolation works, they will be a Unicorn many, many times over. 

Listen on Apple , Spotify, YouTube, our website, or pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts!

 I'd like to thank our sponsors:

Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Bold Ocean Ventures have partnered to create a mission-driven venture capital fund, supporting the growth of innovative, sustainable ocean-related businesses.

Startup Marin Skincare has rocketed thanks to products made with Maine-lobster-derived glycoprotein that work on eczema and dry skin. Former guest on our show and co-Founder Patrick Breeding is offering listeners a 20% discount on their skincare products. Type HAPPYPLANET into the coupon code field!

Spark No. 9, ensures that companies - and startups - have successful product launches by testing their products online. Remove the guesswork before you launch!

Promotional and program partners include Oceanovation, Investable Oceans and Bright Tide.
Elizabeth Muller

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Happy Planet Wednesday! 

 With all of the good work that oysters can do for the planet, filtering water, preventing erosion, reducing acidification, mitigating storm surge and more, entrepreneur George Birch wanted to see if an oyster living in the water doing all of those good deeds could be more valuable in terms of dollars or euros than an oyster on your plate. 

 George's business is called Oyster Heaven and with the help of European credit programs, he is proving his thesis. The euros are starting to roll in from corporations. Oyster farmers everywhere might want to take a close look or even team up. His story is a good one.

 I'd like to thank our sponsors:

 Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Bold Ocean Ventures have partnered to create a mission-driven venture capital fund, supporting the growth of innovative, sustainable ocean-related businesses.

 Startup Marin Skincare has rocketed thanks to products made with Maine-lobster-derived glycoprotein that work on eczema and dry skin. Former guest on our show and co-Founder Patrick Breeding is offering listeners a 20% discount on their skincare products. Type HAPPY PLANET into the coupon code field!

 Spark No. 9, ensures that companies - and startups - have successful product launches by testing their products online. Remove the guesswork before you launch!
Promotional and program partners include Oceanovation, Investable Oceans and Bright Tide.

Listen on Apple , Spotify, YouTube, our website, or pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts!

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We are kicking off the season with the unstoppable Brian Skerry.  Brian is a world renown photojournalist and film producer specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. He has won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition no less than ELEVEN TIMES. He is a National Geographic Society Storytelling Fellow and author of a dozen books.Brian’s 2021 book, Secrets of the Whales, was released by National Geographic as part of a multi-platform project that included an Emmy Award winning 4-part documentary film series directed by none other than James Cameron. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Why were you drawn to the ocean as a subject?
• Tell me about your entrepreneurial journey frpm entepreneurial journey from kid wiht a camera to getting his first photo published in his 30s to the meteoric rise to become National Geographic phtographer.  
• When did you pivot to focus from showing us the cool animals - to showing us the changes in their environment and becoming a voice for them. 
  Why is telling the story of the sea such an important mission - and why now?
• How has the ocean environment changed since you started? Are these changes statistics or are they palpable and if so in what ways.
• Tell me one of the most beautiful underwater creatures you’ve seen - and how is it affected by changes.
  Have you ever had a scary underwater experience? 
  How do the sea creatures react to you? - There are increasing numbers of people in the ocean as well as on it. How do we balance the desire for people to explore and become champions of the ocean through experience with the desire to protect the ocean?
• How has technology impacted way you work?
• There are so many issues facing the ocean right now. We talk about pollution, overfishing, carbon emissions, biodiversity, warming water etc. What do you think is the most vital issue facing the ocean? What should entrepreneurs be focusing on?
• There is growing attention on the water - do you think we are focused on the right issues? How do you hope to shape that conversation?
• If you weren’t a photographer of the sea, what would you be taking photos of?
• What are you working on now that we should be looking out for.
• Are you optimistic about the future and our ability to stay ahead of climate pressures?
• Any advice for nature focused entrepreneurs or artists today?

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS and PROMOTIONAL PARTNERS:

Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Bold Ocean Ventures have partnered to create a mission-driven venture capital fund, supporting the growth of innovative, sustainable ocean-related businesses.

Startup Marin Skincare has rocketed thanks to products made with Maine-lobster-derived glycoprotein tha

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Happy Planet Wednesday ! 

Before I introduce our guest today I want to thank you for your support over the past year. Because, yes, today’s podcast concludes our first year of programming! 

To celebrate we venture into Africa. We will be speaking with Klaartje (Klara) Scarde the Co-Founder of Mwani Zanzibar, a seaweed based cosmetics company based in Zanzibar, Tanzania. I would have loved to do this podcast on site!

Klaartje left her banking job in London to fully embrace the seaweed revolution. Her company seeks to have economic, environmental and social  impacts in Zanzibar. Their high end product line is sourced from local seaweed and formulated by Zanzibaris - and it will soon be available online in the US and Europe.

Just a reminder, you can listen to Happy Planet pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts, or by following one of these links:  Apple , Spotify, Google, or our website.

And a note to listeners, we are going to take a couple weeks off to regroup and prepare for Season 2!

SPONSORS & PARTNERS

Many thanks to Maine Technology Institute and Spark No.9.

I’d also like to thank our promotional partners:

Investable Oceans is a US-based angel platform specializing in ocean-related startups. 

Oceanovation is a fast-growing hub for entrepreneurs and investors in blue-tech innovation. As always, thank you for your support! 

https://mwanizanzibar.com/

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Happy Planet Wednesday! 

This week we are joined by Vincent Doumeizel, a French native from Burgundy who is Director of the Food Program for Lloyd's Register Foundation as well as an expert on everything seaweed. Vincent has spearheaded the Global Seaweed Coalition, which "is a global partnership established to support the safety and sustainability of the seaweed industry as it scales up and to unite a fragmented market through a unified vision and goals."

Most recently Vincent published the book, The Seaweed Revolution.

Vincent called in from Climate Week in New York City to chat with Happy Planet,  and provide a foundation for understanding the potential impact of this sustainable sea-plant on our planet’s future.

Just a reminder, you can listen to Happy Planet pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts, or by following one of these links:  

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-planet/id1652024063

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6xwXGCGhtWkcUNVU5y8BCI?si=ca4ad1bdbcae4ad9

Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xOTg5MDAyLnJzcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwic8o3AwZ38AhVGJGIAHXF9CXAQ9sEGegQIARAC

SPONSORS & PARTNERS

Many thanks to Maine Technology Institute and Spark No. 9.

I’d also like to thank our promotional partners. Investable Oceans is a US-based angel platform specializing in ocean-related startups. 

OCEANOVATION is a fast-growing hub for entrepreneurs and investors in blue-tech innovation.  

Vincent Doumeizel
The Seaweed Revolution

Safe Seaweed Coalition

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Happy Planet Wednesday !

We've talked quite a bit about renewable energy on this podcast and we've also looked at old technologies that are coming back, often with a modern twist. Our guest today is starting a business that checks both of those boxes.

Miles Keeney-Ritchie, founder of Aloft, aims to reduce ocean transportation carbon emissions by installing their automated fiberglass sails on ships and ferries to take some of the burden off the engine and reduce fuel consumption. Thanks to an event organized by Sea Ahead, our bluetech accelerator and investment friends in Boston, I have personally seen their demo size sail and I must say it does capture the imagination. Miles hopes it can capture market share!

Just a reminder, you can listen to Happy Planet pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts, or by following one of these links:  Apple , Spotify, Google, or our website.

SPONSORS & PARTNERS
Many thanks to Maine Technology Institute, Maine Venture Fund and Spark No.9 for their sponsorship.

I’d also like to thank our promotional partners. Investable Oceans is a US-based angel platform specializing in ocean-related startups.

Oceanovation is a fast-growing hub for entrepreneurs and investors in blue-tech innovation.

Miles Keeney-Ritchie
Aloft

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