Althelia Sustainable Ocean Fund Invested an undisclosed amount in Mexico’s Kampachi Company, a sustainable offshore aquaculture operation that raises King Kampachi, a sashimi-grade marine fish.
(Press Release) The Kampachi Company announced today the closing of an equity investment from the Althelia Sustainable Ocean Fund (SOF), a new fund managed by Mirova Natural Capital dedicated to making pioneering impact investments that align ocean resource development and conservation goals.
The SOF’s investment in The Kampachi Company’s operation in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico will help fund sustainable offshore production of King Kampachi, a sashimi-quality marine fish that will be marketed to restaurants and retailers in Mexico, the United States, Japan, and Europe.
This is the first investment funded by the SOF, which is the new Althelia Funds vehicle investing in scalable, impact-aligned businesses to drive improvement in ocean ecosystems.
“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. This investment will materially further The Kampachi Company’s ability to produce a consistent supply of healthful, high-quality King Kampachi with no discernable impact on ocean ecosystems.”
Neil Anthony Sims, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of The Kampachi Company, noted that both Conservation International and the Environmental Defense Fund are engaged as strategic partners for SOF, to ensure the fund will direct investments into projects that uphold the highest environmental standards. Both these leading organizations recognize that properly sited, well-managed offshore aquaculture can help conserve wild ocean resources, and provide healthful seafood for a growing global population.
“This investment by Althelia validates the scalable, environmentally-sound attributes of offshore kampachi production,” said Sims.
With this investment, The Kampachi Company closed their Series A financing and is moving forward with production of King Kampachi, in offshore grow-out pens currently stocked with around 200,000 fish. The first harvest of 4-6 lb. King Kampachi will be in late March 2019. For more information, visit www.kingkampachi.net.
About The Kampachi Company:
We nurture King Kampachi offshore, miles from land, anchored deep in the clean waters and strong currents of the Gulf of California in Baja California Sur. We voluntarily chose to hold ourselves to the most stringent international environmental, social, and governance standards, and are committed to continually improving the processes that maximize the welfare of our fish using in-house research with collaborative scientific studies. As a result, we will soon offer to the world the ocean’s finest fish.
About Althelia Funds:
ALTHELIA Funds are managed by Mirova Natural Capital, an experienced and recognized asset manager, regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, with an impact-driven approach to investment, aligning strong financial returns with measurable environmental and social impact. It is the product of the recent acquisition of Althelia Ecosphere, a pioneer Impact Investor in the natural capital space, by Mirova Responsible Investing, the leading European Responsible Investment platform, and provides advisory and management services to the Althelia Climate Fund 1 and the Sustainable Ocean Fund.