Fish 2.0

Fish 2.0: Kepley BioSystems attends seafood business Regional Track in Wilmington, NC

Thursday, March 16, 2017, Greensboro, NC: Fish 2.0 is the Marine Industry's most notable seafood enterprise startup competition and connects emerging enterprises and investors. In recent years, Fish 2.0 has grown into a vital organization with notable global reach and impact. Spearheaded by Ms. Monica Jain of Manta Consulting Inc., Fish 2.0 is a recognized business leader in sustainable seafood industrial philosophy and the fostering of novel seafood enterprises towards reliable, worthy investor attention and money raising opportunity. Fish 2.0 has helped companies raise over $30 million since the initial competition in 2013.

Fish 2.0 has partnered with Marine Bio-Technology Center of Innovation (MBCOI), Dr. Deborah Mosca and University of North Carolina Wilmington, Chancellor Dr. Jose V. "Zito" Sartarelli, for this three-day seminar. As renowned experts, Jain, Mosca, and Sartarelli are leaders moving the American marine industry forward towards sustainable seafood and nutritionally high protein global food safety.

Kepley BioSystem (KBI) is one of the 20 companies selected from 11 states and Washington DC to participate in the Fish 2.0 South Atlantic and Gulf Coast Shellfish Track. KBI is a novel NC aquaculture enterprise currently funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that is transitioning from grant recipient to product sales and equity funding. KBI emerged from the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering and developed synthetic molecularly sized marine fish and crustacean attractants to eliminate requirements to use the destructive wild bait fish capture industry. Attending the seminar, Dr. Anthony Dellinger, President and Chief Scientist, said during a session,"...that Fish 2.0 coupled with MBCOI and UNCW is a Clarion call to Industrial North Carolina and investors to meet the massive challenge of this century which is sustainable seafood and global food safety.”

Dr. Dellinger (center left) poses with Dr. Mosca (left), Jain (center right), and Dr. Sartarelli before the Fish 2.0 seminar in Wilmington, NC.

 

Left: Dr. Debrah Mosca, CEO, Marine Bio-Technology Center of Innovation
Center left: Dr. Anthony Dellinger, President, Kepley BioSystems Inc
Center right: Monica Jain, Manta Consulting Inc/Fish 2.0
Right: Dr. Jose V. "Zito" Sartarelli, Chancellor, University of North Carolina Wilmington

 

Fish 2.0 connects seafood businesses and investors to grow the sustainable seafood sector. Working through their unique global network, competition platform, and events, Fish 2.0 participants collaborate to drive innovation, business growth, and positive impact. Entrepreneurs meet potential investors, partners, and advisors that help them accelerate impact and growth. Investors and experts get early access to investment opportunities and learn about emerging technologies and trends. And industry leaders gain direct access to sustainable seafood suppliers and partners.

As a powerhouse in both marine science and biotechnology research, North Carolina (NC) is poised to become a global hub for marine biotechnology in the 21st century. To facilitate that process, the Marine Bio-Technology Center of Innovation (MBCOI) was established in 2012 as an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation through an inception grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBiotech). MBCOI’s core mission is the translation of innovative marine-related discoveries into products and services to benefit North Carolina’s economy. By combining a regional focus with a global perspective, we serve as the NEXUS for information, collaboration, and commercialization of marine biotechnologies among our stakeholders, both domestically and internationally.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington, the state's coastal university, is dedicated to learning through the integration of teaching and mentoring with research and service. Guided by our Strategic Plan, the university is committed to nurturing a campus culture that reflects its values of diversity and globalization, ethics and integrity, and excellence and innovation. A public institution with more than 15,000 students, UNCW offers programs at the baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral levels, including in marine biology.