ImpactAlpha, February 21 — Ocean 14 Capital has received a $32 million from Ingka Investments, which is part of Ingka Group, the largest owner and operator of IKEA Retail. The commitment, along with €10 million from Morocco, brings London-based Ocean 14’s fundraising to €130 million ($139 million) for investments in aquaculture and alternative proteins, reducing plastic pollution, protecting ecosystems and ending overfishing.
Investing to advance a sustainable blue economy was a key talking point at this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “Davos 2023 radically shifted the dial on the conversation this year,” said Ocean 14’s Chris Barnes.
Ocean 14 has made four investments to date, including in Syaqua a supplier of specialized shrimp to hatcheries and farmers, and expects to grow its portfolio to about two dozen companies in three years.
Ocean motion
The OECD estimates the “blue economy” could be worth $3 trillion by 2030, providing jobs for 40 million people. “There is a powerful undercurrent of momentum emerging as people are increasingly waking up to the fact that ocean’s health is the engine to economic growth and critical to national and global development,” Barnes said.
Young ocean entrepreneurs
Last week, Triggering Exponential Climate Action, or TECA, invested in seven oceans and seafood startups in Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Next week, 70 young climate and ocean entrepreneurs, scientists and activists are expected in Panama at the sixth Our Ocean Youth Leadership Summit, co-hosted by the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. The Alliance has supported more than 222 ocean “solutions.”
