SWEN Capital Partners, a player in non-listed responsible investment and a pioneer in ocean sustainability investing, has raised EUR 160 million in the first close of its SWEN Blue Ocean 2 fund, to invest in innovative startups working to support the regeneration of ocean biodiversity. Targeting EUR 300 million, the fund is positioned as the world’s largest ocean impact venture fund. This compares to the EUR 170 million raised by SWEN’s inaugural Blue Ocean fund, demonstrating rising investor appetite and momentum.
The fund will invest in startups bringing solutions to help regenerate ocean biodiversity. Its investments will help tackle three existential threats affecting ocean biodiversity: over-fishing, pollution, and climate change. SWEN Blue Ocean 2 is an impact fund and has been classified as Article 9 under the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.
SWEN saw significant investor interest for SWEN Blue Ocean 2 from across the world, raising 53% of the target at first close. This includes strong demand among investors, including institutional investors like pension funds, insurance companies, banks, and family offices. Notable LPs include EIF (European Investment Fund), France 2030, Bpifrance, Macif, Abeille Assurances, Matmut, Suravenir, Mutuelle de Poitiers and CPSTI (Conseil de la Protection Sociale des Travailleurs Indépendants).
Jérôme Delmas, CEO of SWEN Capital Partners, said that “the SWEN Blue Ocean strategy fully embodies the mission we have set for ourselves: putting investment at the service of nature. We are acutely aware of the responsibility we bear as investors, and of the role we can play by supporting high-impact projects with strong transformative potential — projects that can make a tangible contribution to the regeneration of marine biodiversity. This ambitious and innovative strategy could not have come to life without the expertise of our Blue Ocean team, nor without the trust of the investors who share our convictions and our determination to act without delay. Their commitment is essential to accelerating the deployment of concrete solutions in response to a challenge that is both systemic and urgent.”
Christian Lim, co-managing director of SWEN Blue Ocean, said that “our fund strategy remains more relevant than ever. Ocean action is growing in importance on the global stage, with the international community, governments and companies working together to prioritise ocean protection. The startup ecosystem plays an important role in this effort, providing innovative solutions to transform massive industries at scale and at pace. We are excited to continue pioneering the next frontier of climate and biodiversity investment through our SWEN Blue Ocean 2 fund.”
SWEN Blue Ocean Fund 2 will invest primarily in Series A funding rounds with a focus on companies in Europe. However, its scope to invest in the rest of the world has increased since the first generation, with 30% of the fund’s capital now able to be deployed outside of Europe, where SWEN Blue Ocean has identified a significant need for ocean biodiversity regeneration solutions. The larger fund size compared to Blue Ocean will also enable SWEN CP to take more lead positions at Series A stage, with the ability to write first tickets of up to EUR 12 million.
Blue Ocean is fully allocated and has already returned significant capital to investors at a competitive rate of return*. The fund has exited two investments and has 18 portfolio companies.
To support the fundraise and fund deployment, SWEN CP has grown the SWEN Blue Ocean team to nine investment professionals with ambitions for further hires in the coming months. The team combines experience across investment, industry, science and policy.
Beyond its investment strategy, SWEN is also helping to build out the global innovation ecosystem for ocean regeneration, having co-founded “1000 Ocean Start-ups” in 2021, which has since grown to about 50 members. The coalition brings together incubators, accelerators, matching platforms and venture capital investors to scale at least 1,000 transformative start-ups by 2031. In addition, SWEN Capital Partners is working alongside a number of other ocean sustainability organisations, including Ifremer, BlueInvest and ChangeNow.
* Past performance is no guarantee of future results
