SWEN Capital Partners, a specialist in sustainable private equity investments, has added Christian Lim and Olivier Raybaud, co-founders of Blue Oceans Partners, to its investment team and executive committee.
The two new managing directors are committed to financing innovations that have a systemic impact on ocean regeneration.
Ocean regeneration is one of the major environmental challenges of our time. A sanctuary of biodiversity, the ocean also plays a vital role in the production of oxygen (50 per cent of the oxygen we breathe) and is critical to the fight against climate change, absorbing 93 per cent of the excess heat produced by humans. Without urgent measures to restore severely threatened marine ecosystems, the very foundations of life on Earth may be jeopardised. Additionally, losses to the global economy as a result of seafood shortages and rising sea levels are estimated at USD400 billion per year by 2050.
To address this challenge, the team is launching the SWEN Blue Ocean strategy, which will invest in innovations that promote ocean regeneration in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal No14. Its aim is to deliver both systemic impact and competitive returns on investment. The strategy will focus on solutions to the three major threats to ocean environments: overfishing, pollution and climate change, by funding start-ups with proven technology and market traction. These solutions are profoundly transforming high-growth multi-billion-euro markets from aquaculture and plastic packaging to marine energy, addressing consumer and corporate demand for sustainability.
‘We are thrilled to join SWEN Capital Partners, a pioneering investment management company dedicated to sustainable and impact investing,’ says Olivier Raybaud, co-founder of the SWEN Blue Ocean strategy. ‘Combining our ocean expertise with the institutional strength of SWEN’s investment platform allows us to accelerate the deployment of our strategy and thus respond with even greater ambition to the vast challenges facing our oceans,’ adds Christian Lim, co-founder of the SWEN Blue Ocean strategy. ‘We recognize ourselves in the values that SWEN upholds, especially Authenticity and Excellence. These values have been key to the success of our work so far and will continue to do so in the future,’ affirm the two SWEN CP team members.
The SWEN Blue Ocean investment strategy is a complement to the SWEN Impact Fund for Transition (SWIFT) strategy, dedicated to renewable gases (methanisation, hydrogen) launched in 2019. As such, it extends the range of impact strategies classified as Article 9 under the Disclosure Regulation and developed by SWEN in response to its sustainability objectives. To this end, SWEN Capital Partners deploys its impact doctrine based on robust and enforceable impact methodologies and transparent impact governance.
The development of this new impact strategy is consistent with SWEN Capital Partners’ ambition to expand its purpose-driven management and services platform by offering institutional investors complementary non-listed investment products ranging from multi-strategy offerings to direct investment.
“Following on the success of our first direct impact fund dedicated to renewable gas, we want to continue establishing ourselves as a leading player in the field of impact and sustainable development. Today, we are pleased to expand our impact offerings with the launch of our direct-impact strategy SWEN Blue Ocean, which is fully in line with this approach. The new strategy remains true to our threefold objective: a positive effect on climate, a positive effect on the economy in the short or medium term, consistent with a spirit of social justice, and a positive effect on the health and well-being of populations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Olivier and Christian for the trust they have shown us in joining SWEN CP, a multicultural and committed team whose development model is based on a strong corporate culture marked by its values and purpose”, explains Jérôme Delmas, CEO of SWEN Capital Partners.
“SWEN CP is excited to welcome Christian and Oliver, whose knowledge of innovative companies, commitment to the ocean and leadership in the global ocean innovation ecosystem will be key assets for this new impact strategy. We are proud to make a positive contribution to the issues facing marine ecosystems, which are vital for the future and particularly resonate in this year dedicated to biodiversity,” adds Isabelle Combarel, Deputy CEO and Head of Business Development and ESG.
