Offshore Aquaculture Company Kampachi Closes Series A with $5M Investment

November 29, 2018

The Althelia Sustainable Ocean Fund (SOF), a newly launched fund from impact investment manager Mirova Natural Capital, has made a $5 million equity investment in offshore aquaculture company The Kampachi Company in exchange for an undisclosed stake.

Founded in 2011 and based in La Paz, Mexico, The Kampachi Company farms King Kampachi – a yellowtail, sashimi-grade marine fish in offshore pens in the Gulf of California. Where, through making exacting adjustments to the fish’s diet and how it is raised, the company has been successful in lifting its fat content from 4 percent in the wild to 30 percent , according to Undercurrent News.  

Using a closed-cycle method, fish produced by The Kampachi Company take nine to 12 months to reach a harvestable size of 5.3 pounds (2.4 kilos), beginning their lives at a land-based hatchery before being shifted to underwater cages offshore.

The company is currently four months away from its first harvest, after which its branded ‘King Kampachi’ will be sold as sashimi and as a viable alternative to bluefin tuna in restaurants across Mexico, the U.S., Japan, and Europe.

This investment is the first to be made through the SOF, a new Althelia Funds vehicle established to invest in scalable, impact-aligned businesses that drive improvement in ocean ecosystems. To reinforce this mission, and to ensure that investments through the SOF are in projects with the highest environmental standards, both Conservation International and the Environmental Defense Fund are strategic partners of the fund.

“We’re delighted to welcome Althelia on board,” said Jorge Schmidt, CEO of The Kampachi Company. “The Sustainable Ocean Fund promotes the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility, and as part of this process we underwent a rigorous review of our operating principles and practices.”

The SOF saw its first close in September of this year, attracting capital from several large European institutional investors, including the European Investment Bank, AXA Investment Managers and FMO, as well as U.S-based family offices and foundations through the Caprock Group and the Inter-American Development Bank, according to a statement.

With an initial focus on investments in sustainable marine opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean, the fund has a target to deploy $100 million, building an investment portfolio spanning the world’s developing countries.

“We are delighted to announce the first close of the Althelia Sustainable Ocean Fund. This fund will allow us to direct meaningful investments at scale to support sustainable business models, projects and enterprises in the marine sector within developing countries and small island states while also addressing some of the most pressing issues in ocean conservation.” said Simon Dent, SOF Principal, in September.

With this investment, which brings total capital raised by The Kampachi Company to more than $10 million, the company is closing its Series A, and will use the funds to support its operation which currently is raising approximately 200,000 fish. And with an initial harvest scheduled for March, the company expects harvest volumes to climb to 1,200 tons per year by the end of 2019.

-Lynda Kiernan  

Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.

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