Hatch Blue

Investments

Invests in innovations along the aquaculture and seafood value chain including next-generation farming systems, regenerative aquaculture, nutrition, enabling technology, health and genetics and alternative seafood to deliver competitive reuters and create healthier oceans.

Our Statistics

2

active deploying funds

€118

million total AUM

80+

investments

3

exits

Blue Revolution Fund

Thesis-led Growth Stage Fund

Hatch Accelerator Fund II

Accelerator driven investment model

Previous Funds

2019
Vintage
$8.4M
Deployed
25
Global Investments
2
Exits
Broad Aquaculture
Focus
2018
Vintage
€1.76M
Deployed
18
Global Investments
1
Exit
Aquatech
Focus

Our Portfolio

Nitrogen Sensing Solutions (NS2)

Nitrogen Sensing Solutions (NS2)

Nitrogen Sensing Solutions has created the NOxAqua, an innovative sensing system that can provide real time analysis of ammonium, nitrate, and nitrite.
Sector:
Farm Hardware
Sub-sector:
Region:
Portugal
Fund:
Montana Microbial Products
Hatch Accelerator Fund I

Montana Microbial Products

Montana Microbial Products developed a 65% barley protein concentrate (BPC). BPC can replace fishmeal and has competitive advantages over other plant-based proteins due to barley's low cost, strong supply and resilience. They produce BPC using an enzymatic process without harsh solvents or chemicals. BPC can be produced from local barley supplies close to feed manufacturers, reducing the carbon footprint associated with transportation of other protein ingredients.
Sector:
Nutrition
Sub-sector:
Plant proteins
Region:
United States
Fund:
Hatch Accelerator Fund I
Jala Tech
Hatch Balance Sheet

Jala Tech

JALA is an end-to-end Shrimp Farming Solution that helps shrimp farmers increase cultivation production and efficiency in the shrimp industry. They offer an app for recording and analysing shrimp farms, finance solutions for farmers and provide a market for shrimp farmers to sell their harvest.
Sector:
Supply Chain & Services
Sub-sector:
Market place
Region:
Indonesia
Fund:
Hatch Balance Sheet
CFeed (EXITED)
Hatch Accelerator Fund I

CFeed (EXITED)

CFEED is a Norwegian company specializing in live feed solutions for the aquaculture industry. Their focus is on sustainably farmed copepods, tiny crustaceans that provide optimal nutrition for marine fish larvae. Their product, C-podz, consists of premium-quality hatchable Arcatia tonsa copepod eggs designed to enhance growth and health in various fish species, including sea bream, seriola, and turbot.
Sector:
Nutrition
Sub-sector:
Marine based ingredients (excluding seaweed)
Region:
Norway
Fund:
Hatch Accelerator Fund I

Our Team

Caitriona Kelleher
Managing Director

Caitriona Kelleher

Caitriona is a positive agitator with a passion for developing early stage entrepreneurs leveraging her studies in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Ventures and industry experience in Capital Markets, Corporate Finance, Financial Services and Venture Capital.

Title
Managing Director
Department
Investments
Fund:
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Carsten Krome
Managing Partner & Co-Founder

Carsten Krome

Carsten holds a Ph.D. in aquaculture nutrition from the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling. He is well versed in both scientific research and investments. Carsten transitioned from a technical analyst role to founding Alimentos Ventures in 2016 and co-founding Hatch Blue, the world's first aquaculture accelerator, in 2017​. As Managing Partner, Carsten oversees Hatch Blue’s investment activities as Managing Partner.

Title
Managing Partner & Co-Founder
Department
Investments
Fund:
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Georg Baunach
CEO & Co-Founder

Georg Baunach

Georg is a molecular biotechnologist by training, with expertise in synthetic biology. He holds a Masters in Management from London Business School and biofuels research experiences from Harvard Medical School. Georg founded a renewable energy company in Ghana in 2015 and co-founded Hatch Blue in 2017.

Title
CEO & Co-Founder
Department
Investments
Fund:
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Linda Chen
Investment Manager

Linda Chen

Linda has dedicated each step of her career from The Nature Conservancy to Morgan Stanley to connect capital with nature. As the Associate at Blue Revolution Fund, she’s applying her interdisciplinary skills towards market-based sustainable seafood transition. Linda is also the author of bi-weekly aquaculture deal newsletter aquablurb.

Title
Investment Manager
Department
Investments
Fund:
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Sol Park
Principal

Sol Park

Sol has extensive experience in impact consulting and impact investing. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Studies from University of Richmond. Sol lived in 8 countries across 4 continents.

Title
Principal
Department
Investments
Fund:
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Sophia Sperandeo de Macedo
Associate

Sophia Sperandeo de Macedo

Sophia Sperandeo de Macedo is a finance professional with a strong focus on sustainable finance and impact investments. She holds an MSc in Finance from Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon, Portugal, where she specialized in development economics, sustainability evaluation, and impact investment strategies. She also earned a BA in Individualized Studies from NYU, focusing on social sciences, media, and political narratives.

‍

Sophia's professional journey spans roles in Berlin, Lisbon, and São Paulo. She is currently a VC Analyst at Hatch Blue, where she supports investments in sustainable ventures. Previously, she worked as a Founder’s Associate Intern at KoRo, contributing to strategic initiatives, and as an Investment Analyst at Apex Capital, focusing on deal sourcing and due diligence. At Ânima Educação, Sophia managed investor relations and ESG reporting, solidifying her expertise in stakeholder engagement. Multilingual and globally minded, she is committed to fostering impactful financial solutions.

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Title
Associate
Department
Investments
Fund:
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Contact

Hatch Blue Investments

FAQs

How much do you usually invest in a company? Are you open to leading / co-leading?

For HFII, the standard initial investment is $75,000 via an uncapped, step discounted Safe note.

For BRF, our ticket sizes range between €500,000 up to €6,000,000 and vary from company by company. We do go above and beyond and open for discussion. We are open to leading or co-leading. We reserve a significant portion of our capital for follow-on investments.

What is our decision making process? How long does it take?

For HFII, our initial investment is made via participation on our CREST program. This is an open call and applications can be made via our website. We review applications for alignment and move suitable companies to due diligence.  

For BRF, it takes on average 4-6 months from initial conversation to final close of the deal. While we often try to move at the pace of the founder or founding team, the time length depends on the complexity of the deal.

Here’s the general steps every founding team goes through: 

  1. Initial engagement: we first review your pitch deck in detail. If the business is interesting, we move into an initial 30 minutes meeting with the founder / founding team. We let the founder do most of the talking and hope you use the opportunity to dive deeper into your team, business, market and products. 
  2. Assessment: if you pass the initial meeting, you’ll spend more time with your BRF deal flow team as we continue to learn more about each other over a few calls. The dealflow team will initiate an assessment note and meet weekly to discuss key decisions and new insights. In parallel, we share your company information with our Conservation Manager The Nature Conservancy to carry out initial impact screening of your company. 
  3. Final decision: if all looks good and interest remains strong among our dealflow team, our investment committee will discuss your company in great deal to give you a final answer. Then comes the legal work to finalize the deal and transfer capital.
Do you have strict ownership requirements?

HFII: No. We initially invest via an uncapped, step discounted Safe note. We assess ownership requirements at the follow-on investment stage.

BRF: No. We’d like to own enough of each company to make sure our incentives align and we can provide meaningful resources and time to help you build. Unlike some traditional venture funds requesting 20 to 25% ownership, we do not have such requirements.

How engaged are you in your portfolio companies?

We generally take a board seat (and meet quarterly with our founders) and provide value add in areas where we can, for example, introducing ingredient companies to trialing partners or potential buyers, but we do not overstep and micromanage founder’s decisions. We are open to brainstorming and feel a sense of pride when our companies sprout and thrive.