Impact investor Ocean 14 secures further €30m to grow its portfolio
The Luxembourg-based fund, which has also received €10m from family offices and high net worth (HNW) individuals, now aims to reach €200m by the end of 2023.
The funds from Convex brings to €160m the amount it has raised to date from backers including Monaco’s sovereign wealth fund, European Investment Fund (EIF), and Niklas Zennström, the founder of Skype and €30m from the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest owner and operator of IKEA Retail.
Expanded portfolio
Chris Gorell Barnes, co-founder of Ocean 14, believes the Fund is well on track to grow its portfolio to between 20 and 25 businesses within three years.
It has just announced that it is ploughing €10m into Norwegian tech company, Ava Ocean, which has pioneered a new method of seabed shellfish harvesting while in July it revealed it had invested €11m in Dutch land-based yellowtail producer, The Kingfish Company.
October last year saw Ocean 14 back Brazilian tilapia farmer, Tilabras, to the tune of €10m. The farming company claims its production model enables the fish to be fed on a fully sustainable, plant-based diet, while minimizing the CO2 footprint.
The Fund has also invested in SyAqua, a supplier of genetics and early-stage nutrition to the shrimp hatchery market, with a historical focus in Asia, along with AION, a Norwegian plastic management platform that uses proprietary technology to offer ‘Circularity as A Service’ to large-scale industries, and it is also supporting MITO, a clam hatchery and breeding company.
“Ocean 14 Capital focuses on five specific verticals. Investments in both alternatives to fish protein and aquaculture itself may include investments in aqua feeds. The other three verticals are sustainable fisheries, circular plastics, and marine flora/seaweed,” Max Holtzman, director of operations, Ocean 14 Capital told us previously.
