June 18, 2015 — The hook is baited, and private-equity and venture-capital fund managers are reeling in capital to finance next-generation fish-farming enterprises across the country and around the world.
Several dedicated funds are targeting aquaculture investments specifically. At the same time, many broader venture capital and private-equity funds, focused on food and agriculture and even technology, are adding investments in wild-caught seafood suppliers, processors and consumer brands, as well as aquaculture, to diversify their portfolios.
Even some public-equities investors have added oceans-related investment strategies; Rockefeller & Co., for example, is betting that increased regulation around ocean health will increase the value of sustainability-based ocean assets.
The result is a clear uptick in investor interest and available capital for enterprises targeted at the sweet spot of the food market — healthy, sustainable, tasty fish.
“The whole spectrum of investors are approaching us,” says Amy Novogratz, managing director of Aqua-Spark, a Dutch-based fund that closed on financing of €10 million (about $11.25 million) last year. Aqua-Spark has invested in Chicoa, Mozambique fish-farming operation, and Calysta, a California biotech company that uses microbes to produce a fishmeal substitute. The fund expects to close four more investments in the next several months.
Novogratz says fundraising has accelerated for this September’s anticipated close on an additional €10-15 million. “People see the numbers. They realize the forecasted growth.”
Read the full story at The Huffington Post