×
Susbcribe

Blue Ocean, Blue Business

Cody Good
Share
Courtesy of Adobe Stock

In the biz, they tell you that a blue ocean strategy — creating and capturing uncontested market space — is the key to success. A new climate-tech fund has taken that strategy to heart, with a blue ocean business in the oceans themselves.

Details: Propeller is the first significant venture fund to target blue climate solutions by leveraging the ocean to reduce the impacts of climate change. The company estimates that under 1 percent of all the climate-tech investments have gone specifically to ocean-climate tech.

Why the ocean: We live on a blue planet, with over 70 percent of the earth covered by the ocean. With such massive coverage, the ocean is a significant food source and carbon sink.

  • While investors are always looking for the next unicorn, a company with a billion-dollar valuation, Propeller will instead seek out narwhals, a company with the same potential but at sea.

Propeller announced its first fund of $100 million to find those narwhals, working alongside the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to accelerate blue solutions.

  • WHOI is backed by the US Departments of Defense and Energy, among other academic stakeholders allowing access to the very best in ocean-related innovations.

Zoom out: The ocean greatly influences our climate and much of our day-to-day lives. Investments directed at expanding innovative ocean-centric climate solutions may benefit both businesses and the planet.