Ocean Hackathon® 2025: The 10 winning teams will pitch their projects at the International Grand Finale in Brest

The success of the local editions: key figures and highlights

Born in Brest, Ocean Hackathon® has expanded internationally over the years. In 2025, the event includes 10 editions across 9 countries: Brazil, Canada, Congo, Croatia, France, Malaysia, Portugal, South Africa, and Spain.

A few key figures: 58 challenges led by as many teams, more than 450 participants and challenge leaders, and over 100 coaches — including 17 global data coaches — mobilized to support the projects.

With the support of its Ambassadors (Cerema, Ifremer, Mercator Ocean International, Météo-France, and Shom) and partners, the Campus mondial de la mer team has once again succeeded in bringing together the international community around the preservation and sustainable use of the ocean.

The 10 winning teams

BREST (adviser: Technopôle Brest-Iroise)

BRE01 - LIAttoral

By CEREMA

Towards better mapping of coastal paths through AI-powered digitalization, taking into account the evolving impacts of climate change.

Winning team of Brest

CADIZ (adviser: CEEI Bahía de Cádiz)

CAD04 - OCEAN E-CLEAN

By SANTIAGO MIRANDA

Autonomous circular solution for oil spill response in ports and coastal areas. It uses autonomous catamarans to deploy bio-absorbent material, turning oily waste into solid biofuel, converting pollution into clean energy.

Winning team of Cadiz

CAPE TOWN (adviser: OceanHub Africa)

CAP01 - Plastic2Purpose

by IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa

Turn Waste into Insight & Opportunity

Winning team of Cape Town

KUALA LUMPUR (adviser: Embassy of France to Malaysia)

KUL03 – FeedRight

By Hong Jie Chai

Know your fish before you feed" - A real time AI "translator" that shows your fish's appetite, helps you stop overfeeding or underfeeding

Winning team of Kuala Lumpur

PENICHE (advisers: Polytechnic University of Leiria (PUL), Smart Ocean (SO) and Blue Bio Techpreneurs (BBT))

PEN01 – Circularponic

By Paulo Frias - AmpliAqua

Sustainable upcycling of aquaculture nutrients into circular bio-based solutions. Circularponic is a digital tool that helps manage aquaponic systems. It calculates the nutrients produced by Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) and helps users understand how much is available for plant growth.

Winning team of Peniche

POINTE NOIRE (adviser: Yamify)

PTN04 - EROSTOP

By Yamify

Team: Lumière Perfection Mouanou Niati, Jean Baptiste Hirwa, David Jonathan Bienvenue Moukouri, Exaucé Gradi Michel Musala, Gloire Exaucé Kassy

Coastal Erosion Monitoring in Pointe-Noire. EROSTOP uses AI and smart sensors to monitor, predict, and alert in real time about coastal erosion—protecting vulnerable communities and infrastructure.

Winning team of Pointe Noire

SALVADOR (adviser: Oxean Hub)

SAL02 – Nautilus

By Marcelle Lins

Nautilus connects companies investing in carbon credits with projects that generate regenerative and recurring blue carbon credits.

Winning team of Salvador

SPLIT (adviser: University of Split)

SPL06 - Development of a system for collecting the waste from fishing vessels

By Linda Zanki-Duvnjak

Produce some floating collection stations for all kinds of waste and wastewater from vessels powered by energy from solar panels. Free disposal of solid waste in separate containers

Winning team of Split

TOULON (adviser: TVT Innovation)

TOU08 – DeepSight

By Thomas Burgard

A predictive model that can avoid seasonal collisions while minimizing carrier costs

Winning team of Toulon

VICTORIA (adviser: COAST Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies)

VIC04 - Surface Current Drivers in the Strait of Georgia

By Dwight Owens

Using AI to figure out whether tides, winds or river flow are driving current patterns in the Strait of Georgia

Winning team of Victoria

See you at the International Grand Finale

Each team will have 6 minutes to present its project in English. The jury will be composed of the event’s Ambassadors and one representative from each local edition.

This pitch competition will determine the three winning teams based on an objective scoring system. The evaluation criteria are:

• clarity of the project
• quality of the prototype and use of marine data
• relevance of the issue addressed
• dynamism and originality of the pitch
• respect of the allotted time
• involvement of team members

The International Grand Finale is open to the public upon registration and will also be streamed live on YouTube.

December 2, 2025 – from 1:30 p.m., Ateliers des Capucins, Brest, France

(registration link coming soon)