The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Monaco Asset Management join forces to launch the ReOcean Fund, a private equity fund dedicated to SDG14 Life below water

On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Monaco Asset Management officially launched, in the presence of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, a new private equity fund dedicated to support the UN SDG14 – Life Below Water. The ambition? Investing €100M to catalyse the next generation of ocean innovations to support the transition towards a net-zero, regenerative and more equitable economy.

The ocean face huge pressures as over exploitation of its resources, pollution, habitat destruction or climate change. Scaling-up investment in solutions that can enable its resilience is essential. The ocean provides critical ecosystem services indispensable to life on earth while offering a regenerative solution to many of the crises we face today as food insecurity, climate emergency and biodiversity crisis.

“Philanthropies play a crucial role in bridging the existing gap between the public and private sectors. But philanthropy is not enough to address the vast, daunting and complex ocean challenges” said Olivier Wenden, Vice-President and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. “The creation of the ReOcean fund is in line with the efforts undertaken for many years by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation to promote the most innovative companies that have an impact on the safeguard of life below water. It is also the right time to invest in the growth of these companies given the favourable evolution of regulation, the change in the consumer dynamics and the strong growth observed in certain sectors of the sustainable blue economy.”

The sustainable ocean economy has been seriously under-invested in the past – but shifting economic, political and consumer dynamics are turning the tide and building the ocean as an investable asset class.

In this perspective, the two Monegasque entities, with complementary strong expertise in ocean conservation and finance decided to team-up and co-manage the ReOcean Fund with the ambition to support the growth of high impact and innovative companies (from series A&B) aiming to:

• Reduce key sources of pollution in the ocean,
• Transform the way we produce blue food and travel across the ocean,
• Protect marine ecosystems and the critical services they provide
• Inform and equip stakeholders with robust and transparent data.

The fund will invest in 5 sectors that collectively unlock the regenerative potential of the ocean: solutions to plastic pollution - healthy, regenerative and equitable blue food – green shipping and yachting – restoration and protection – ocean data. It will work on a global geographic scope ensures access to best in class solutions.

In her keynote address, Minna Epps, Director of the IUCN Ocean team, emphasised that “the blue economy is the fastest growing economy that we currently have, so we need to really capitalise on that and make sure that we do it in a sustainable way.” She concluded by saluting the creation of the ReOcean Fund as it will enable to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

“We believe there is currently an opportunity to fill a financing gap in the market; driving capital where there is a strong need and an important economic potential. A very active investing ecosystem already exists in venture capital and seed stage. However, we believe there is a real need for capital supporting more mature companies entering their growth phase” assessed Anthony Torriani, Founder, Principal and Managing Director of Monaco Asset Management.

The fund aims to accelerate the Foundation’s wider mission to bring humanity together to empower impactful solutions for our planet's biodiversity, climate, ocean and water resources, to build on the Foundation’s track record of successful ocean initiatives, including the Ocean Innovators Platform and mobilise new partners and finance, particularly in the private sector, for ocean and planetary health.

More info on : www.reoceanfund.com

Photo credit: ©JC Vinaj/FPA2