Local Solutions. global impact.

The 2026 Impact Challenge is a $200K business innovation competition launching scalable, business-led solutions to ocean health challenges—starting in the Virgin Islands.

APPLICATIONS CLOSED

APPLICATION DEADLINE: JUNE 10 2026

The 2026 Impact Challenge calls on entrepreneurs in the British Virgin Islands to develop commercially viable solutions that protect and regenerate ocean health.

Recent global scientific assessments confirm the ocean system—central to climate regulation, biodiversity, and human survival—has breached critical planetary boundaries.

This is not a distant risk. It is a present and accelerating reality.

The BVI is both on the frontlines of this crisis—and uniquely positioned to help solve it.

Local solutions can drive global impact.

APPLICATION DEADLINE:

JUNE 10 2026‍ ‍

The 2026 Impact Challenge backs real businesses that make ocean regeneration economically viable, positioning the British Virgin Islands as a launchpad for scalable solutions to the global ocean crisis.

Applications Closed

The Opportunity

Up to $200,000 in funding, alongside one year of incubation and acceleration support, will be awarded to one or more ventures to translate strong ideas into real-world, scalable impact.

Turning planetary risk into regenerative island opportunity

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR…

  • This Challenge invites BVI entrepreneurs to:

    • Build businesses that restore marine systems

    • Reduce pressure on vulnerable species and ecosystems

    • Demonstrate that regeneration can be economically viable

    We are seeking ventures that transform ocean protection into scalable enterprises—not pilots or concepts, but real businesses with measurable impact.

    The 2026 Impact Challenge is a CALL TO ACTION for entrepreneurs across the Virgin Islands:

    To lead.

    To restore.

    To prove that local innovation can solve global ocean challenges. 

    Entrepreneurs and business owners developing solutions to ocean challenges—including sargassum management, sustainable fisheries, marine restoration, low-carbon solutions, and reducing reliance on imports—are encouraged to apply.

    If your business is helping to protect marine ecosystems or build sustainable, locally rooted solutions, the 2026 Impact Challenge offers an opportunity to scale.


    • Integrate ocean protection and regeneration into the core business model, where impact and profitability are inseparable

    • Demonstrate a clear, credible revenue model, with early traction (within 12 months) and a path to financial sustainability without ongoing subsidy

    • Stimulate the local economy, including job creation, durable employment, strengthened supply chains, reduced import dependence, and increased local spending

    • Pioneer innovative, locally rooted solutions in the BVI with strong potential for replication and scale

    • Deliver measurable environmental outcomes in at least one of the following priority solution areas:

    • Reduced pressure on marine species and ecosystems
      (e.g. sustainable fisheries, regenerative aquaculture, marine-based food systems)

    • Reduction in carbon emissions
      (e.g. low-carbon, ocean-linked local manufacturing)

    • Sustainable local food sovereignty linked to ocean health
      (e.g. aquaponics and systems that reduce pressure on marine ecosystems)

    • Ocean and coastal restoration businesses (e.g. reef-safe mooring installation, mangrove restoration services, coral restoration enterprises, restoration-linked eco-tourism)

    • Waste Reduction, Material Substitution & Circular Solutions
      (e.g. plastic alternatives, reuse models, recycling, and solutions reducing ocean-harmful waste)

    • Sargassum-to-value models
      (where commercially viable)

  • Applicants must address an ocean health issue through a business-based solution that is measurable, scalable, and commercially viable. Solutions aligned with the Priority Solution Areas will be scored most favourably.

    Applicants must be 18 years or older and hold a valid trade licence by August 25, 2026.

    Businesses related to fisheries must also obtain the appropriate licence under the Fisheries Act.

    Depending on the nature of the activity, additional permissions from the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change may be required.

    Non-profits are welcomed to apply with a valid NPO certificate and to reinvest 100% of profits in a social enterprise model.

Spotlight on Our 2025 Impact Challenge Winners

Hubert Akeem Lennard - Block Works VI

Block Works VI is reviving concrete block and paver manufacturing in the Virgin Islands with an eco-friendly twist, utilising recycled glass sand in ASTM-standard mixes.  By producing high-quality materials locally, the company reduces import dependence and supports a circular economy that cuts waste and helps protect coastlines.  Founder Hubert Akeem Lennard is an eco-entrepreneur from Virgin Gorda with over 12 years of experience and the founder of Greencrete VI.  He is leading the effort to pair durability with measurable environmental impact.

Kendyl Berna and Chris Juredin -
Report the Reef

Report the Reef is a tech-enabled social enterprise that transforms real-time mobile incident reports (such as illegal anchoring, waste dumping, and destructive fishing), has these verified by field teams, and then uses them to support environmental liability claims and habitat restoration across the British Virgin Islands.

Building on years of work creating artificial reefs, tracking sharks and whales, and removing ghost gear, the team will document ocean change and community action to drive awareness, behaviour shift, and support for reef recovery. Berna is a marine conservationist and filmmaker; Juredin is a commercial diver and long-time BVI resident.

Berna and Juredin are co-founders of locally registered ocean conservation non-profit organisation ‘Beyond the Reef’.

What’s Your bold idea?

The Virgin Islands is more ocean than land, and our future depends on how we care for it.

In this powerful short video, our Impact Investors, Sir Richard Branson and Rick Kearney, share why they joined forces with Unite BVI to launch the inaugural 2025 Impact Challenge. It was a rallying cry for entrepreneurs, dreamers, and change-makers to bring forward regenerative, sustainable business ideas that protect the BVI’s marine environment and help build a stronger local economy.

Whether it’s restoring ecosystems, revolutionising fisheries, or transforming eco-waste, we believe the next big idea can come from right here in the BVI.

Watch the video and ask yourself - what’s your bold idea?

This is your invitation to reimagine what's possible for the Virgin Islands.

The 2026 Challenge

We’re looking for bold ideas that are measurable, achievable, and built to grow. A total of up to $200,000 in funding is available, which may be awarded to one standout venture or distributed across multiple winners. All selected ventures will also receive a full year of business incubation and acceleration support to help turn great ideas into lasting impact.

“A healthy ocean is our most important ally in the fight against the impacts of climate change.”

– Richard Branson

TIMELINE HIGHLIGHTS

  • April 2 2026

    Applications Open

    Phase 1 of the Application Process: Initial Assessment

  • JUNE 10 2026

    Deadline for Initial Assessments

    Phase I Applicants Screened for Eligibility & Shortlisted

  • JULY 1 2026

    Shortlisted Applicants Advance

    Phase II of the Application Process

  • AUG 25 2026

    Deadline for Phase II Application

    Submission of Detailed Business Plan, Financial Forecast & Impact Projection

  • SEPT 15 2026

    12 Semifinalists Advance

    Application Review and Selection Committee score Semifinalists

  • OCT 13 - Early nov 2026

    6 Finalists Invited to Live Pitch Event on Necker Island (Early Nov)

    Finalists will be offered Coaching & Mentorship in preparation for the pitch event.

    Awardees Announced Early Nov 2026.

a bold new wave of innovation shaping the future of our ocean and economy.