Santo Domingo, D.R. – The SargaOut venture won first place in the José Luis Corripio Estrada 2025 Award, during the IX Entrepreneurship Fair of the Dominican Republic, held at Agora Mall Santiago last Wednesday, November 12. The initiative was selected among more than 50 projects presented by entrepreneurs from all over the country.

SargaOut is a project developed by students of the University of the Caribbean (UNICARIBE), through its Innovation and Entrepreneurship Laboratory UNICARIBE_LAB, and proposes the use of sargassum as raw material for the manufacture of ecological baseballs. Its model integrates criteria of environmental sustainability, circular economy and local productive development, aimed at transforming an environmental challenge into an economic opportunity.

During the opening ceremony, the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, highlighted that the Entrepreneurs Fair -whose first edition was held more than two decades ago with the businessman José Luis Corripio Estrada (Pepín Corripio)– has established itself as one of the main national platforms to promote young talent and innovative entrepreneurship in the Dominican Republic.

As part of the competition, economic prizes were awarded as seed capital to strengthen the winning projects. In addition, the winning entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to hold individual meetings with renowned Dominican entrepreneurs, who will share experiences and guidance on leadership, innovation and business development.

Source: Official Instagram of the Minister of Tourism, David Collado (@davidcolladom).

SargaOut’s proposal is aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with direct contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) linked to responsible production and consumption (SDG 12), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), and the protection of marine ecosystems (SDG 14).

The IX Entrepreneurship Fair of the Dominican Republic brought together students, teachers, mentors, entrepreneurs and representatives of the public and private sectors, consolidating itself as a space of articulation between academia, entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation.

Author:
Nicole Severino – International Relations student at the University of the Caribbean (UNICARIBE) and member of the SargaOut team.