Press Release

March 2023

MAR+Invest launched the first call for proposals for the Acceleration Program, which seeks to promote the growth of businesses with a positive impact on the corals of the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) and reef-dependent communities.

MAR+Invest, supported by the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR), is a blended finance mechanism with a strong emphasis on impact monitoring and evaluation, business acceleration, access to financial solutions and capacity building. This initiative aims to invest in market-based solutions that contribute positively to the health and resilience of coral reefs, in the four countries of the MAR: Mexico (Quintana Roo), Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. This initiative is being implemented by an alliance of the following organizations: Mesoamerican Reef Fund (MAR Fund), the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature (FMCN)/Sureste Sostenible, Healthy Reefs for Healthy People (HRI) and New Ventures/VIWALA.

The MAR+Invest Acceleration Programme seeks to promote the growth of early-stage and established companies that contribute to solving one or more of the main threats to reefs in the MAR: lack of wastewater and solid waste treatment, overfishing, and climate change. Business solutions must generate a positive impact on coral reefs and neighboring communities and have operations in at least one of the MAR countries.

This call for proposals will support the selected projects through personalized training, development of impact indicators and measurement systems, strategic partnerships, and access to financial solutions. This call for proposals will select up to eight projects that will be accelerated during the period of May to October 2023.

To apply for the call for proposals, please visit: https://mar-invest.org/

The call for proposals deadline is April 5th, 2023.

For more information, please contact:

Graciela Suárez | graciela@nvgroup.org
Amy Jones | ajones@marfund.org