Welcome to our August Newsletter!
Climate Week NYC 2024 is Diving Deeper into the Blue:
Following a marked increase in ocean related events at last year’s Climate Week NYC, we’re delighted that this year is likely to serve up an even broader array of blue gatherings. We chalk this up to an ever-increasing awareness of ocean-climate linkages, more investment opportunities and the chance to connect with geographically dispersed ocean actors in a single trip to New York City.
IO will be participating in and hosting a number of events, ranging from innovation showcases to a roundtable on marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR). If you let us know if/when you’re coming to town we’re happy to compare notes on events and calendars. In the meantime, to have a look at the impressive array of events on offer during the week, here's the official website, and here’s an additional fun and informative resource: The Great NY Climate Week 2024 Guide.
Exploring Crossover Investing by “Green” VCs into the Blue Economy:
We’re delighted to be co-authoring a research report with ARPA-E on crossover investing into the blue economy. Through interviews and surveys with leading fund managers, our goal is to map out the different ways VCs are now accessing the ocean space, helping to clarify where the opportunities lie and what hurdles remain to facilitating greater investment in this area.
We look forward to sharing our results during Climate Week at our hybrid Investor Gathering, which will take place simultaneously on Zoom and in person at The Explorers Club. The session will also feature two innovative companies operating at the intersection of ocean and climate. If you’re already signed up as an accredited investor on our site, you’ll be receiving an invitation in the coming days. If not, please feel free to sign up here.
Summer’s Ending, Busy Autumn Ahead!:
After a bit of a late summer lull, the fall is looking to be jam-packed with ocean events across the globe. Following Climate Week NYC, we’re heading to the annual meeting of the 1000 Ocean Startups Coalition, where we’re delighted to be serving as co-chairs of the steering committee alongside Katapult Ocean. This meeting is scheduled to align with the annual Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) gathering, with the goal of introducing the broader impact investment community to blue economy investing. If you’d like to learn more about 1000 Ocean Startups and its work, please feel free to reach out to us at contact@investableoceans.com or directly to Ron Tardiff at Ronald.Tardiff@weforum.org.
We’re also excited to participate again as a judge and voting delegate for the Ocean Exchange competition – if you’ve never been, please consider coming to Fort Lauderdale October 27-29th for several days of inspired entrepreneurship, mentoring and meeting fantastic people. For more details, please feel free to reach out to us or directly to CEO/Executive Director Milly Pitts at millicent.pitts@oceanexchange.org.
Women In Ocean Food – An Exceptional Philanthropic Opportunity:
While we don’t usually feature philanthropy in our newsletter, we think this initiative is pretty awesome and worth learning about. The Women in Ocean Food Innovation Studio supports female leaders launching and building blue food companies in Latin America. Organized by Conservation International Ventures and Hatch, with engagement from leading ocean NGO’s Builders Initiative, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, Beyster Foundation and Alumbra Innovations Foundation, Women in Ocean Food addresses a glaring imbalance: female-founded businesses capture less than 3% of VC funding each year – and the gap is even wider in emerging markets.
Women in Ocean Food’s 5-year goals are to catalyze $15mm in follow-on financing, create 150 jobs and support 300 livelihoods through its comprehensive program. It has already successfully convened the first of 4 contemplated cohorts, which will engage over 40 companies and 80 female participants over the next three years. If you’d like to explore contributing to the almost complete funding round currently underway, please reach out to us or directly to Gracie White at gwhite@conservation.org.
As always, we thank you for your support!
The Investable Oceans Team
