When Kelly Harrell started crafting the idea of the Alaska Community Seafood Hub, she knew that improving business, people’s lives and the environment go hand in hand. In November, as part of the Fish 2.0 competition, Kelly pitched her business model to a room full of investors, ocean and fishing industry experts and grantmakers who shared her vision of a sustainable seafood market. She walked away with $5,000 and countless connections to help build a strong community-based fishery and bring high-quality seafood from Alaskan fishermen to local consumers.

The Fish 2.0 competition brings seafood entrepreneurs, business and conservation leaders, and investors together to share ideas and make connections that move the responsible seafood industry forward. This year – and only the second the competition has run – more than 170 businesses from across the globe entered for the chance to pitch their business deals and get feedback directly from investors looking for opportunities to increase seafood sustainability worldwide.

Sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation and other social investment leaders like the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Fish 2.0 isn’t just a tool for business owners to advance their enterprises. Investors, too, know that sustainable fisheries are profitable fisheries. “We identified two or three companies that we could potentially make a loan to, but it’s mostly about learning,” Kate Danaher, lending manager at RSF Social Finance and a 2015 judge explained. “The businesses at Fish 2.0 are like a sample size of what’s actually out there in the seafood industry, not just a homogenous selection.”

With her prize money and wealth of new knowledge, business and communication strategy, Kelly is eager to take the “AK Sea Hub” to a new level – helping tell the story of low-impact Alaskan seafood that builds thriving coastal communities and healthy fisheries. “The connections with other businesses and people in the investing space have been really valuable, and helped build confidence. What we’re doing may seem small, but I learned that the impact of what we’re doing has value at the scale we’re doing it and the way we’re doing it.”