Trinidadian-born Dr Legena Henry, founder and CEO of Barbados-based Rum and Sargassum Incorporated, walked away with the top prize of US$5,000 at the 2026 Climate Smart Summit Investor Forum pitch competition held in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Tuesday.

Henry was among six climate-focused entrepreneurs from across the Caribbean who were each given seven minutes to pitch their projects before a panel of five judges from regional and international financial institutions.

Dr Judlyn Telesford-Checkley, of GrenadaGrows, secured second place and a prize of US$2,500, while Jamaica’s Teka Smith of Cristeek Gold took third place and earned US$1,500.

Rum and Sargassum is a climate infrastructure company that seeks to convert sargassum seaweed and rum distillery wastewater into renewable natural gas.

During her presentation, Henry said the sargassum problem was a regional crisis, noting that massive seaweed blooms threaten marine ecosystems, hurt tourism-dependent economies and create health concerns when they rot along coastlines.

Henry, who is a mechanical engineer and lecturer of renewable energy at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus, said the project began in 2019, when she worked with students to explore how Barbados could transition its transportation sector towards a fossil-fuel-free future.

“I’m a mechanical engineer, all my three degrees are in mechanical engineering and I thought I’m not hearing a lot about how transport is going to transition, the transport sector. So I called these students and said let’s look at what Barbados transport could look like and that’s where it came from,” she shared.

Amid rising fuel prices and global uncertainty, Henry stressed that Caribbean countries must develop their own energy solutions to improve energy security.

“If you think about the Straits of Hormuz, if you think about what’s happening globally with energy right now. We need local energy products in our region,” Henry said.

“We need to figure out our energy story because nobody’s coming to rescue us,” she continued. “Countries are running out of water, running out of electricity right now because of the conflicts around oil and gas and that industry. Even the price of plastic is going up because it’s tied to the fossil fuel industry.”

Henry said investment was crucial to the project’s early growth, beginning with support from the Inter-American Development Bank and later a US$100,000 contribution from an angel investor following a presentation at a United Nations event.

The entrepreneur said the US$5,000 prize will help complete the company’s pilot gas station project in Barbados, which she said is now 85 per cent complete.

The investor forum pitch competition formed part of the inaugural Climate Smart Summit, which is being held in Bridgetown, Barbados, from June 16 to 17 and features high-level dialogue, investment matchmaking and collaboration focused on accelerating climate-smart solutions across the Caribbean.

Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator, Racquel Moses, announced on Tuesday that the organisation is seeking to help mobilise US$11.5 million in capital for participating entrepreneurs and will track and publish the outcomes over the next 18 months.