Pirate entrepreneurs find a winning idea in the ocean

According to a National Library of Medicine article, limulus amebocyte lysate is an extract found in the blood of the Atlantic horseshoe crab that helps keep injectable medications and vaccines bacteria-free, making them safe for patients. The current process of “bleeding” the horseshoe crabs is an “ecologically unsustainable practice,” according to the article.

That could change, thanks to Limulus Biomedical, a business venture that will design, build and maintain aquacultural systems and create a sustainable environment for the crabs and harvesting the LAL found in them.

Limulus won the seventh Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge, held April 10 in the ECU Main Campus Student Center. ECU entrepreneurship student Tyler Hodge of Morehead City and Payton Cottrell of Carteret Community College now have $15,000 in cash prizes to grow their venture, which started as two friends who wanted to make the results of an aquaculture research project a reality.

“He (Cottrell) came to me in November of 2022 … with the idea,” said Hodge, who uses an insulin pump, which gives him a personal stake in the idea. “He was looking for somebody that would really help him out with it, really get him going. I said it’s right up my alley. I have an entrepreneurial spark. I have the resources from East Carolina University, and I said, ‘Let’s get this ball rolling.’”

The night before the challenge finals, Hodge and Cottrell walked away with $5,000 after winning the Blue Economy Pitch competition hosted by the ECU Office of Licensing and Commercialization. In addition, Mark Wdowik’s Pirate Entrepreneurship Fund is providing Limulus access to an equity investment up to $15,000.

With the money, Hodge and Cottrell plan to continue developing feed for the crabs. “You would think feed is very simple, but to keep these guys healthy enough to bleed sustainably, we have to develop our feed, which is not on the market,” Hodge said. The crabs range from Maine to Florida and along the Gulf Coast.

“The fact they’re producing something so critical to everyone’s life is something that we (judges) saw as an opportunity to help them,” Wdowik said.

Kate Wiggins of NC Idea mentored Limulus. She was impressed when she saw Hodge and Cottrell pitch in the second round of the Pirate Challenge. She helped refine their pitches and brought in others who provided feedback on the presentation and offered advice.

“Tyler and Payton listened intently, and what you saw tonight was a slam dunk,” said Wiggins.

For the first time in the challenge’s history, all participants walked away with cash prizes, in-kind services or both, totaling almost $200,000. And new to this year’s challenge was the Rural Community Impact Award, sponsored by First National Bank. Winning that was PALMQUATICS, a mobile boat repair venture led by entrepreneurship student Gage Palmer. The team took home $10,000 to help grow the business in rural North Carolina.