The Ocean 14 Capital Fund has surpassed its €150 million fundraising target following a €20 million commitment from Convex Group Limited and €10 million from family offices and individual investors.
Ocean 14’s impact vehicle has now raised €160 million and the firm expects to close the fund on €200 million by the end of the year.
Other LPs in the fund include the Constitutional Reserve Fund of Monaco, European Investment Fund, Skype founder Niklas Zennström and Ingka Group, via its investment arm.
The fund aims to support ocean health by investing in areas such as land-based aquaculture systems, sustainable fishery technologies and fish meal alternatives, among others.
The vehicle has already made investments into shrimp-breeding technology specialist SyAqua; plastics management platform AION; tilapia producer Tilabras; land-based aquaculture producer The Kingfish Company; and sustainable seabed harvester Ava Ocean.
Ocean 14 expects to build out a portfolio of 20-25 businesses within three years, said the firm’s co-founder Chris Gorell Barnes.
“The fact that the fund has surpassed its initial goal of €150 million shows how important this issue has become to so many people globally and how highly the fund is thought of,” said Gorell Barnes.
“We believe that the fund’s strategic investment in Ava Ocean is significant. The global export market for scallops is worth an estimated $2.5 billion, but most of the scallop fishing industry uses dredging methods which have a devastating effect on seabed ecosystems and biodiversity. The technology developed by Ava Ocean can be rolled out on a global scale and could put an end to harmful seabed practice forever.”
Dredging has been banned in Norway for almost 30 years due to its effects on marine life on the seabed.
Ava Ocean has developed a precision-picking system that allows it to harvest scallops and sea cucumber without disturbing the surrounding ecosystem.
The company became the first in three decades to be granted a license by the Norwegian government to harvest Arctic scallops in the Barents Sea.
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