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Courtesy of Undercurrent News:

The Google Oceans Program and $7 billion company Pentair are among the high profile companies set to sponsor this year’s New Fish 2.0 Business Competition, the second rendition of the successful 2013 Fish 2.0 competition held at Stanford University.

Awards for this year’s competition amount to $180,000 in cash and awards. Organizers expect investments in the range of $100,000 to over $10 million to be made in participating companies.

The competition is now open to entries, and 36 finalists will be invited to present their ideas to investors during the competition finals at Stanford Univestiry this coming call. Last year, 160 companies entered

More than 15 corporate industry leaders, investors, and philanthropists are set to sponsor this year, with CEI and RSF Social Finance also among them.

Event founder Monica Jain says the event will expand upon that of 2013.

“In 2013, we were simply showing people that there were great business opportunities in sustainable seafood, now we’re showing people the breadth and depth of the sector  – we’re excited for more businesses and investors to join us in 2015.”

Jain says companies in the seafood sector “have plans to grow their businesses and reach new markets—but they struggle to identify the right investors. Fish 2.0 connects these groups.”

The event and the breadth of its sponsors are products of growing interest in the seafood sector among investors with expertise in technology, supply chain operations, and food systems.

“Investors see rising demand for sustainable seafood products and an industry that is ripe for innovation,” says Monica Jain, Fish 2.0 founder. Jain is also the founder of Manta Consulting, which provides strategic planning consultations on fisheries related issues for seafood companies and investors.

“We believe sustainable aquaculture will play a big role in the future of food production globally,” said Todd Gleason, senior vice president of growth for Pentair, an event sponsor through its foundation. “We’re excited to support the growth of innovation in the sector.”

Investors come to Fish 2.0 with a variety of interests, ranging from supply chain logistics to community development. Fish 2.0 offers the opportunity to learn more about the seafood sector and meet emerging leaders in the industry.

“We have a 35-year history of investing in fisheries and aquaculture, and we’ve seen both financial and impact performance from these deals,” Dick Clime of CEI, a community investment institution in Maine and a sponsor of Fish 2.0, said. “Fish 2.0 helps us see a large number of new, quality businesses in one place.”

The debut event in 2013 saw 160 businesses in aquaculture, fisheries and other parts of the supply chain present their ideas to 100 investors. The 2013 event’s participants report strong growth over the past year.

“Fish 2.0 is the best thing I’ve ever done in the context of my business,” says Dane Chauvel of Organic Ocean. “We exceeded revenue projections by 10 percent last year and are on track to realize a 30 percent year-over-year increase in revenue this year. This wouldn’t have happened in the absence of Fish 2.0 – it accelerated our path and provided a networking opportunity that we never would have gained otherwise.”

The 2015 competition will include tracks for pre- and post-revenue, early stage ventures, as well as a track for established companies that have been generating revenue for more than three years and are scaling.