Dr. Vriko Yu has shown that ocean restoration can be scientifically rigorous, commercially viable, and investable at scale. As Co-founder and CEO of Archireef, she turned a scientific breakthrough into a deployable business model that is redefining how coastal restoration is delivered, measured, and valued.

A marine scientist and co-inventor of the world’s first 3D-printed terracotta coral restoration substrate, Vriko turned a scientific breakthrough into a deployable business model. Under her leadership, Archireef has achieved 95% coral survivorship after three years, delivered results four times higher than conventional methods, enhanced biodiversity by 40% within six months, and restored or conserved 100,000 m² of critical marine habitat across Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

Vriko has positioned Archireef not simply as a restoration company, but as a platform for climate adaptation, biodiversity recovery, and nature-risk management. Archireef's product suite spans Reef Tiles for coral restoration to Eco SeaWall Panels that transform port walls and shorelines into thriving marine habitats, achieving a 3.6x biodiversity uplift. Through AI-powered monitoring and TNFD-aligned reporting, she is helping enterprises and governments treat ocean health not as an externality, but as strategic infrastructure, turning it into a boardroom metric.

Recognised by the World Economic Forum and Forbes Asia, Vriko represents the kind of entrepreneurial leadership this award was created to honour: bold to challenge the status quo, and disciplined to prove that a living ocean can be part of the future of development.