Luxembourg-based blue-economy specialist fund Ocean 14 Capital has netted another €30 million; €20 million investment from insurer and reinsurer, Convex Group Limited and €10 million from undisclosed family offices and high net-worth individuals.
In so much, the fund has surpassed its €150 million funding goal and now aims to reach €200 million by the end of 2023. The news coincides with the firm’s announcement of an investment of up to €10 million in Norway’s Ava Ocean.
Convex and Co. join the Ingka Group join H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco’s Constitutional Reserve Fund of Monaco’s investment of €10 million (announced in the autumn of 2022), a €30 million commitment from the investment arm of Ingka Group, operator of IKEA Retail and Ingka Centres, the EIF, and Atomico founder Niklas Zennström.
According to Ocean 14 Capital co-founder Chris Gorell Barnes, the fund is on track to meet its goal of growing its portfolio of companies to between 20 and 25 businesses within three years, having invested in five companies thus far including shrimp-breeding technology specialist SyAqua, Norwegian plastics management platform AION, and land-based Dutch yellowtail producer The Kingfish Company.
In conjunction with the announcement of additional LPs, Ocean 14 Capital has revealed that it’s committed up to €10 million in Ava Ocean, a Norwegian company focussing on the way seafood is harvested from the seabed, i.e. dredging, while at the same time protecting fragile ocean habitats and invaluable carbon sinks.
“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,” commented Gorell Barnes. “The technology developed by Ava Ocean can be rolled out on a global scale and could put an end to harmful seabed practice forever.”
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