Turning a marine problem into a sustainable business idea has earned Marine Spark X the prestigious 2025 High North Young Entrepreneur Award.
The High North Young Entrepreneur Award is an international pitch competition for Arctic-related business ideas from young entrepreneurs and start-ups.
The 2025 award was recently handed out during the High North Dialogue conference in Bodø, Norway.
The winner was chosen by the audience after a live competition between three finalists: Marine Spark X, Pack Away AB, and cruise2feed.
In the end, Marine Spark X stood out as the winner.
– It’s a big honor. There were three strong finalists, so to win means a lot, says Elias Nyheim Såstad Solberg, one of the six students behind the start-up Marine Spark X.
See interview with the winner below. The article continues right after the video:
From ocean threat to opportunity
Marine Spark X impressed the crowd with a creative and timely idea: transforming invasive sea urchins — a major threat to the kelp forests — into sustainable fish feed.
– Sea urchins are a huge problem. They’re eating down the kelp forests, which are some of the world’s most effective carbon sinks. We saw the need to do something, says Solberg.
The project started in a university course in Tromsø, where the team first learned about the issue. Rather than simply removing the sea urchins, they began looking for ways to use them.
– Our industrial partner harvests sea urchins, but a lot of the material isn’t usable for their purposes. So we take that leftover material and turn it into fish feed. That way, we both reduce waste and help restore the kelp forests, he explains.
Learning from others
Solberg is originally from Lofoten, but the team spans the country — with members from Oslo, Bergen, Bømlo and Tromsø. All six are currently students at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway.
Although the idea shows strong potential, Solberg emphasizes that research plays a key role in developing it further.
– It’s a good business idea, but it also requires a lot of science. We’re in the early stages, and the next step is to set up a production line — hopefully we’ll find funding for that soon.
Winning the award is not just about recognition, Solberg adds.
– It’s inspiring to meet people from all over the world and talk about both the challenges and solutions we’re seeing in the Arctic. Sharing what we’re working on and learning from others is a big part of this experience.
You can also see the final below: