Hatch is only the second venture capitalist (VC), after Aqua-Spark, to raise a fund solely dedicated to aquaculture.
The fund was first opened for investment 11 months ago and solely focused on investing in technology that benefits the sustainability of the aquaculture sector. It managed to attract significant expertise to its board in the form of Rubicon Resources founder and former CEO Brian Wynn, former EWOS CEO Einar Wathne as well as Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Eric Archambeau and Kai Sato.
At the recent final demo day in Singapore, managing partner Dr Carsten Krome stated that: “It’s those first LP’s, those first investors that we are grateful for. We’re first time fund manager. This means that people ask you if you even know how to raise a fund, how to identify good companies, how to transact in those companies. We knew we know that but to bring this across and to get people’s trust is another issue.”
The closing of the fund coincides with another expansion of the Hatch team, growing from eight to 10 full-time staff members. The company is currently filling two senior positions in Bergen and another one in Ireland, where their Europe team is deepening their cooperation with the Irish Seafood Board, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) who was a key supporter of their second cohort 2018 in Cork.
Hatch continues to maintain its locations in Hawaii, Bergen and Singapore, will shortly announce its new offer for their Global Cohort 2020 and will start taking applications again in mid-February 2020.
