Hatch Blue will continue to focus on investing in early stage aquaculture and alternative seafood startups, but will also consider investing in startups in the marine biotech and blue carbon fields.
Hatch Accelerator Fund II, as its name suggests, follows an accelerator-based investment model for early stage companies and Hatch Blue has just launched its next generation accelerator programme, Crest, which incorporates all of the best parts of previous programmes and has arranged them to fit the lifestyle of outcome-minded CEOs and founders.
The vehicle has already invested in 12 companies, with scope to invest in up to 24 more following its full deployment. The portfolio currently comprises:
- Pacific Hybreed
- GreenSage Prebiotics
- Hedros Bio
- AquaSend
- b-Fab
- Blue Pond Group
- Living Seas
- EcoHarvest
- The Crop Project
- Halophilic
- Coast4Sea
- Certified Quality Foods
“I am delighted to lead the early stage investment team at Hatch Blue. Our accelerator allows investees to leverage all of the Hatch Blue resources, from our consultancy service, our programmes team and our media and publishing platform and ensures our portfolio companies can reach their full potential as efficiently as possible. The accelerator-based investment model has been a great success for Hatch Blue to date, enabling technologies for positive industry change. With this new investment vehicle Hatch Blue will build on this record,” reflects Caitriona Kelleher, managing director of early stage investments at Hatch Blue.
Wayne Murphy, co-founder and partner at Hatch Blue and managing director of its programme unit, adds: “Attracting and deploying more capital to the sector is so crucial to support and drive increased innovation across the sector. To date we have worked with and invested in over 50 companies who have gone on to attract over $120 million in follow-on funding, demonstrating the value of our accelerator strategy and our unique, niche sector focus. With our Crest accelerator programme kicking off in July 2024, we are working to create the right conditions, environment and space to work with even more blue talent and creative solutions, as we focus on developing high potential scalable businesses within the blue economy. Our Hatch Accelerator Fund II is a critical part of our plans to fund more of these scalable solutions in the sector.”
For further information, please contact Caitriona Kelleher via caitriona@hatch.blue.
