Andrea Paz-Lacavex Wins Funding to Support her Project SPORA at the Blackstone LaunchPad Pitch Competition
After being selected from over 130 applications, she competed in a live pitch and received $2,500 towards her project SPORA. Read more about Andrea and her project here.
Andrea is pitching SPORA, or “Sociology, Planning, and Optimal Restoration of Algae.” SPORA is producing Green Gravel in hopes of making the reforestation of kelp forest ecosystems more accessible and scalable. Kelp forest ecosystems are disappearing from oceans around the world, putting pressure on fishing communities that rely on the algae habitats. SPORA’s Green Gravel is made by injecting microscopic kelp spores into gravel. Once the algae are securely attached to and growing in the rocks, the company gives the Green Gravel to fishing communities to throw into the ocean and become the source of a new kelp forests. Because Green Gravel is relatively inexpensive and does not require highly trained workers, SPORA hopes it can be a scalable, accessible solution for communities to jumpstart kelp reforestation.
