From Our Incubator to a $1M Deal: Alison Duguid Wins Croc Pitch 2026
Two years ago, Alison Duguid was a standout in Venture UWA's incubator cohort.
Last week, she stood on a stage in Darwin and won Croc Pitch 2026 — putting North Australian SeaCulture in line for up to $1 million in venture capital from Paspalis Capital, subject to due diligence.
This is what the pathway actually looks like.
Who Alison Is
Alison is a chemical engineer at UWA, with a fifth-generation Territorian background and a long-running interest in circular economy thinking and emerging technologies.
She founded North Australian SeaCulture (NASC) to close the gap between cutting-edge marine science and real commercial application — building an industry that works for regional communities, the ocean and the planet at the same time.
She was a standout in our 2025 incubator cohort, and is now part of the 2026 VentureOn accelerator, where we provide mentorship, funding and support to help founders scale.
The Problem She's Solving
Australia's reliance on extractive industries has left a mark on regional communities and degraded landscapes. Many mine sites can't meet their rehabilitation requirements because the soil has been stripped of organic material.
Alison's insight was that the solution had been sitting in the ocean the whole time.
NASC cultivates native tropical seaweed along Australia's northern coastline and processes it into bio-based soil products that lift organic material, nutrient availability and germination rates — turning a marine resource into scalable mine site rehabilitation.
The results back it up: lab trials show up to 75 percent higher seed germination against a 50 percent regulatory benchmark. There are paid trials underway with a major miner, and NASC's first cultivation site is already running at the Darwin Waterfront Lagoon.
The Night Itself
Croc Pitch is Northern Australia's premier pitching competition, now in its eighth year, hosted by the Darwin Innovation Hub. This year's three finalists were selected from registrations spanning Australia and overseas — including entries from Pakistan, India, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Alison pitched to a packed room of government, industry, investors, press and members of the Indonesian Consulate.
The judging was unusually tight. Deliberations from the Paspalis Investment Committee ran long, and in an unprecedented move, the other two finalists — NatureHelm and Drone-Hand — were also progressed into due diligence. Paspalis Investment Manager Alex Farrugia described it as the closest call they'd had at Croc Pitch, with all three founders arriving with real traction and businesses the committee could see backing.
Announcing the win, NT Minister for Trade, Business and Asian Relations, the Hon Robyn Cahill OAM, highlighted NASC's work developing regional seaweed supply chains for soil rehabilitation, cosmetics, food and textiles.
On the win, Alison said she was honoured to be selected, particularly given how strong the competition was, and that she's looking forward to continuing to develop the Territory's seaweed industry.
Why This Matters for Every UWA Student Reading
Alison didn't arrive at Croc Pitch with a pitch deck and a hope.
She arrived with a defined problem, a named customer segment, trial data measured against a regulatory benchmark, paid work underway with a major miner, and a cultivation site already in the water. That's what made the committee take three hours instead of thirty minutes.
And she built that from a starting point available to any UWA student: a problem she could see, and a program willing to back her while she worked it out.
If you're a PhD student wondering whether your research has commercial legs — this is that. If you're an undergrad with an idea you're not sure is "startup enough" — Alison's began as a question about soil and seaweed.
What Venture UWA Backs
VentureUp Incubator — for founders with an early-stage idea, focused on validation and prototyping. Equity-free seed funding up to $7,500.
VentureOn Accelerator — mentorship, funding and investor network access for ventures ready to scale.
EIR Consultations — free one-on-one sessions with experienced founders to stress-test your idea.
All free for UWA students, PhD candidates and alumni.
Congratulations, Alison
From all of us at Venture UWA — this is a genuinely brilliant result, and it couldn't have happened to a more deserving founder. We're proud to have you in the 2026 VentureOn cohort and we can't wait to see what 2027 brings.
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