A Barbados company that turns a stinky seaweed problem into fuel just walked away with the top prize at a Caribbean climate summit.

Dr Legena Henry, a Trinidadian-born mechanical engineer and renewable energy lecturer at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, won US$5,000 on Tuesday at the 2026 Climate Smart Summit Investor Forum pitch competition in Bridgetown. Her company, Rum and Sargassum Incorporated, converts sargassum seaweed and rum distillery wastewater into renewable natural gas.

Henry beat five other climate-focused entrepreneurs from across the Caribbean. Each got seven minutes to pitch before a panel of five judges from regional and international financial institutions.

Dr Judlyn Telesford-Checkley of GrenadaGrows took second place and US$2,500. Jamaica's Teka Smith of Cristeek Gold came third, earning US$1,500.

During her pitch, Henry called the sargassum problem a regional crisis. Massive seaweed blooms threaten marine ecosystems, hurt tourism-dependent economies, and create health concerns when they rot along coastlines. She said the project started in 2019 when she worked with students to explore how Barbados could transition its transport sector away from fossil fuels.

"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," Henry said.

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

"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 pointed out that countries are running out of water and electricity because of conflicts around oil and gas. Even the price of plastic is going up because it's tied to the fossil fuel industry.

Investment has been crucial to the project's early growth. It started with support from the Inter-American Development Bank. Later, after a presentation at a United Nations event, an angel investor contributed US$100,000.

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

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

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