$2 Million in Funding Offered for Sea Level Rise Solutions

NORFOLK, Va., March 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sea level rise and flooding are problems in many places around the world.  To accelerate development and deployment of innovative solutions that address these problems, the Virginia based non-profit organization RISE is offering $2 million in challenge funding to support entrepreneurs with sustainable business plans. Proposals for up to $250,000 each must be received by March 16, 2020. To apply and learn more about the new Challenges and past winners visit www.riseresilience.org.

The Coastal Community Resilience Challenges focus on: Flood Management, Data Analytics, Protection of Buildings, Re-establishing Critical Utilities, Reconnecting Neighborhoods, and Urban Mobility. Each Challenge addresses actual problems in southeastern Virginia and seeks novel solutions replicable in other coastal communities.

The RISE Urban Mobility Challenge offers up to $500,000 to create a next generation traffic app that offers drivers real-time flooding and rerouting information. June 1, 2020 is the deadline.

The Challenge is in partnership with cities of Houston, Miami, Norfolk and Virginia Beach, in addition to WAZE, Esri, Sentara and CHKD Hospitals, the Port of Virginia, Old Dominion University, and Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

"These partnerships provide guidance to the teams to help refine their solutions and make them applicable to other coastal communities," said Dr. Katerina Oskarsson, RISE's Chief Strategy Officer.

"Our past recipients' progress so far is exciting," said Dr. Paul Robinson, RISE's Executive Director. "Our established resilience hub of innovators in coastal Virginia is looking forward to more entrepreneurs bringing their novel solutions to test here in our flood prone community that can be scalable for implementation in coastal communities around the world."

In addition to this no-risk funding, RISE provides access to real world infrastructure with pilot sites in coastal Virginia cities. RISE also offers co-working office space, fabrication and testing work space in Norfolk, an insightful entrepreneurial community, and valuable support of experts in regulatory TA and permitting, in addition to applied science and commercialization.

Link to photos. Permission to use granted. Credit: City of Norfolk

Contact for information:
Paul Robinson (757) 258-0500   [email protected]
Katerina Oskarsson (757) 258-0500   [email protected] 
Jayna Eller (757) 773-1250  [email protected]

SOURCE RISE Resilience Innovations