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Ecocene wins Deloitte Gravity Challenge

Sebastian Tofts-Len
Sebastian Tofts-Len
// // WA-based environment tech business Ecocene has won the Deloitte Gravity Challenge 02, as set by the UK Hydrographic Office...

// WA-based environment tech business Ecocene has won the Deloitte Gravity Challenge 02, as set by the UK Hydrographic Office…

The Gravity Challenge brings together challengers and innovators to collaborate and create solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges in sectors such as mining, defence, agriculture, the environment, banking and telecommunications.

Utilisation of space technology is a particular focus of the challenge, having the potential to provide significant economic benefits on both the Australian and UK economies, from job creation to large-scale commercialisation.

The challenge ran across nine months this year, incorporating four phases: Recruitment, Pitch, Accelerate and Scale.

In the case of Margaret River-based environmental tech company Ecocene, they won the challenge set by the UK Hydrographic Office to provide a solution to map changes in coverage, carbon capture and storage for the world’s mangroves and seagrass meadows.

WA is a winner

Ecocene was one among three finalists working on this challenge, the other two being UK based companies Mantle Labs and Treeconomy.

During the challenge, the Ecocene team used its ecological management and restoration platform Emapper to map 83,000 ha of mangrove ecosystems along 3,900 km of coastline, which constituted around 156,000 tonnes of carbon.

“It’s awesome to have our technologies recognised in a global competition and to be given the opportunity to work with a reputable organisation like the UK Hydrographic Office to map and monitor these critical ecosystems,” said Julian Kruger, Ecocene founder and CEO.

“We strongly believe that the restoration economy will be one of the great macrotrends to emerge over the next decade, and that monitoring and evaluating the performance of nature based solutions for climate change and biodiversity loss will form a critical part of that.”

Challenge advocate and Product Manager from the UK Hydrographic Office George Huish was quick to congratulate Ecocene for being selected as overall winner of the Mangrove and Seagrass challenge.

“We were really impressed with the concept that Ecocene put forward and the opportunities their platform and potential future collaboration could offer the UKHO.”

Off the back of the win, Julian Kruger is also promoting the establishment of a hub for sustainable industries within the south west region.

“Being able to operate a globally impactful technology company out of Margaret River is a clear demonstration that these types of jobs are portable and able to be serviced from anywhere.”

“Given the incredible natural environment, awesome lifestyle and genuine community desire for circular, lean, inclusive and clean business models, I feel that there is a great opportunity for the region to establish itself as a hub for sustainable technologies and practice covering areas such as environmental management, regenerative agriculture and low impact tourism.”

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Visit the Ecocene website for more information: ecocene.com

MAIN IMAGE: Image Supplied.

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Sebastian Tofts-Len

Sebastian Tofts-Len

Sebastian is an undergraduate economics student and research assistant at Curtin University. He mainly writes on startup funding, launches, events and grant programs.
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