Sustainable seas fund passes €150m

The Ocean 14 Capital Fund, which is working to clean up and revitalise the world’s oceans, has received a €20 million (£17.1m/$2.2m) investment from international specialty insurer and reinsurer, Convex Group Limited, taking it past its €150 million funding goal.

The Luxembourg-based fund, which also received €10 million from family offices and HNWs, now aims to reach €200 million by the end of 2023.

Ocean 14 said the investment from Convex means that the Fund has now raised €160m from investors including Monaco’s sovereign wealth fund, European Investment Fund (EIF), Skype founder Niklas Zennström, and €30 million from the investment arm of Ingka Group which runs 392 IKEA furniture store franchises in 32 countries.

The Fund recently announced an investment of €11m in land-based yellowtail (seriola lalandi) producer The Kingfish Company as part of the Dutch company’s €32m fundraise to complete Phase 2 of its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) in Zeeland.

Ava Ocean

Other investments include a €10m commitment to Brazil-based tilapia producer Tilabras, and most recently an investment of up to €10m in Ava Ocean, a Norwegian technology and seafood company that has developed a unique, non-invasive harvesting gear for bottom-dwelling seafood such as scallops and sea cucumber without disturbing marine ecosystems. The technology combines an advanced water-flow system with artificial intelligence and camera technology to precision-pick target seafood. Smaller sized specimens or bycatch are returned to the seabed undamaged.

Ocean 14 said that after extensive trials together with the Norwegian Institute for Marine Research, the Norwegian government granted Ava Ocean the first licence to harvest Arctic Scallops in the Barents Sea in more than three decades.

Operational and profitable

Norselab, an Oslo-based investment manager focusing on impact through industrial transformation, has taken Ava Ocean through the critical phase of commercialising its research and technology, proving that the solution is fully operational and profitable. Today, based on a single quota of arctic scallops, the company makes solid positive margins with its harvesting method.

With the injection of capital from the Ocean14 Capital Fund, Ava Ocean will embark on an ambitious international growth plan, accelerating its mission to lead a global shift towards more sustainable fisheries of bottom-dwelling seafoods.

Chris Gorell Barnes, co-founder of Ocean 14 Capital, said: “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.”

International growth

Øystein Tvedt, chief executive of Ava Ocean, said: “The global potential for our solution is immense, and we are excited to be able to explore international opportunities with the support of the Ocean 14 Capital Fund.

“With the support of the Ocean 14 Capital Fund, along with our existing investors, we are well-positioned to scale our operations for international growth and to further develop our innovative solution.”

Maria de Perlinghi, partner and chief impact officer at Norselab, said Ava Ocean’s technology was a commercially scalable alternative to destructive catching practices currently deployed in most countries globally.

“We believe Ava Ocean can generate system-level impact in the seafood industry,” added De Perlinghi.

A video showing the Ava Ocean system in use can be seen below.