Transformative Ocean Investment Opportunities 2025

10 Making Waves in the Regenerative & Sustainable Ocean Economy: Transformative Ocean Investment Opportunities In 2018, there were only four funds in the market that were focused on ocean health and sustainability. Fast forward to 2025, and there are now more than 40 venture capital funds that have launched or are fundraising and have a focus on ocean sector issues. These funds vary from those that focus on a specific sector (e.g. ocean plastics) to others that cover a wide variety of ocean sectors or regions. Larger scale investable opportunities that are ready to deploy include: Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) mobilizes capital through two complementary vehicles: the GFCR UN Fund, which deploys grants, technical assistance, and concessional finance; and the GFCR Equity Fund, which invests in scalable, revenue-generating enterprises using a blended finance approach to de-risk investments and attract private capital. A key implementation vehicle for the Global Biodiversity Framework and Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water), the GFCR takes a locally driven, ecosystem-based approach to enhance the resilience of coral reef ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. To date, GFCR has supported over 150 reef-positive enterprises and finance mechanisms, created more than 30,000 jobs, improved resilience for over 20 million coastal community members, strengthened conservation and management efforts across more than 2 million hectares of coral reef ecosystems, and enabled sustainable financing measures covering over 10 million hectares of Marine Protected Areas. LINK TO FUND Outrigger Impact Outrigger Impact is an innovative blended finance fund that delivers focused and transformative investment capital to businesses and projects within the blue economy in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The fund aims to generate returns through originating, structuring, and providing finance via targeted project lending and equity investments into sustainable and impactful business models that create environmental, economic and social resilience and sustainability. The Outrigger Fund is supported by a technical assistance facility that provides investment readiness and early-stage grant funding to island projects that have the potential over time to graduate to an investment from the fund. Outrigger targets some 36 SIDS across the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian and Atlantic Ocean. They differ in geography, population size, and economic status, yet they are recognized as a group as being particularly at risk from climate change despite being responsible for less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. SIDS steward over 30% of our Ocean through their Exclusive Economic Zones meaning their blue economies and marine assets are filled with potential. LINK TO FUND Katapult Ocean (KO) i s o n e o f t h e m ost a ct i v e i m p a ct venture capital investors globally, focused on backing ocean and climate tech solutions from seed to Series A. Since 2019, KO has built a strong track record as a dedicated investor in ocean innovation, with a portfolio of over 77 companies across the world. A founding member of the 1000 Ocean Startups coalition, Katapult Ocean plays a key role in shaping the global blue economy ecosystem. Katapult Ocean announced the development of a dedicated Asia Fund and expect to launch in total two ocean-focused funds in 2026. LINK TO FUND SWEN Capital Partners’ Blue Ocean Fund closed at €170 million (USD$185 million). This venture capital fund invests in innovative startups which support the regeneration of ocean biodiversity, focusing on solutions to overfishing, marine pollution and marine-based solutions to climate change. It is recognized as one of the largest funds dedicated to innovation in marine health. The SWEN Blue Ocean 2 fund is currently out raising capital targeting a size of €300 million (USD$326 million). LINK TO FUNDSCALING UP: UNLOCKING INVESTMENT IN THE REGENERATIVE & SUSTAINABLE BLUE ECONOMY Part 1 - Blue Finance Vehicles and Investment Platforms Since 2018 there has been a 10-fold increase in the number of ocean-focused funds