What Blue Oceans Partners does

Blue Oceans Partners is the previously used name for SWEN Blue Ocean, a direct impact investment strategy operated under SWEN Capital Partners, a French asset management firm regulated by the AMF (registration GP-14000047) and headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux with a Paris mailing address. The strategy invests equity capital into early- and growth-stage startups developing solutions for ocean biodiversity regeneration, with thematic focus areas covering overfishing, ocean pollution, and marine-related climate change mitigation. Its portfolio spans aquaculture technology (OptoScale, Noray Seafood, Avant, MiAlgae), maritime decarbonization (WSense, BlueNav, D-ICE Engineering, AYRO, Spinergie, ECOsubsea), plastics and biomaterials (Polystyvert, Traceless, Lactips, Tidal Vision, Sparxell), and circular economy / plastic alternatives (Le Drive tout nu, Auum, BIBAK, KitSolide, nextProtein), with all investments framed around contribution to SDG #14 (Life Below Water).

The strategy is structured as a multi-vintage impact private equity fund. SWEN Blue Ocean Fund 1 launched in 2021 in scientific partnership with Ifremer (French national marine research institute) and Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, and closed at €170 million in February 2023. SWEN Blue Ocean 2 was launched at the UN Ocean Conference in June 2025, taking cumulative mobilized capital past €300 million, with over 85% sourced from institutional investors including pension funds, insurers, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds distributed through SWEN Capital Partners' institutional relationships. Revenue is generated through standard PE fund management fees on committed/invested AUM and carried interest on successful portfolio exits, though no financial figures are publicly disclosed. The team is led by Co-Managing Directors Christian Lim and Olivier Raybaud, with Investment Directors Mélanie Le Guen, Julie Peyrache, Seva Zakharov, and Clémence Ollivier, supported by Principal Laëtitia Gombaud-Saintonge, Senior Associates Prisca Jauffrineau and Zachary Lamothe, and Associate Virginia Pan. Distribution and deal flow are amplified through participation in 20+ ocean innovation networks including 1000 Ocean Startups, BlueInvest (European Commission), Uplink (World Economic Forum), Seaweed for Europe, OceanHub Africa, Techstars, Plug and Play, Katapult Ocean, and the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, alongside events such as the World Ocean Summit, ChangeNOW, and the UN Ocean Conference.

Name

Blue Oceans Partners

Legal name

SWEN Capital Partners

Website

https://blueoceanspartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Blue Oceans Partners (SWEN Blue Ocean) is a Paris-based impact private equity strategy under SWEN Capital Partners, investing equity into ocean-focused startups across aquaculture, maritime decarbonization, plastics alternatives, and circular economy, with over €300 million mobilized across two fund vintages.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Private Equity / Venture Capital Fund Management

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Oceans, Coastal & Marine Resource Management (BPADALAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Marine & Freshwater Conservation (BPAGAGAE)

Keywords

• Impact investing
• Ocean biodiversity
• Blue economy funds
• Private equity strategy
• Sustainable aquaculture

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Private Equity Fund Management: The company operates as a private equity impact fund, generating returns through equity investments in ocean-focused startups and innovations. Revenue is generated through fund management fees and carried interest from successful portfolio exits.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Blue Oceans Partners, via its SWEN Blue Ocean strategy, is a direct impact private equity investment platform that deploys institutional capital into startups developing innovations for the regeneration of ocean biodiversity. The platform manages two fund vintages (SWEN Blue Ocean, 2021, and SWEN Blue Ocean 2, launched June 2025) which collectively have mobilized over €300 million to back companies addressing overfishing, ocean pollution, and marine-based climate solutions across aquaculture, maritime transport, biodegradable materials, and circular economy verticals.

Product overview

Blue Oceans Partners operates through SWEN Capital Partners as a multi-product impact investment platform offering two distinct fund vintages. SWEN Blue Ocean (Fund 1, launched 2021) and SWEN Blue Ocean 2 (Fund 2, launched 2025) are both direct impact strategies investing in startups that deliver both systemic impact and competitive market returns for ocean biodiversity regeneration. The strategies have mobilized over €300 million for ocean startups, with over 85% institutional investors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SWEN Blue Ocean (Fund 1) A direct private equity impact fund investing in startups developing innovations for the regeneration of ocean biodiversity. Targets solutions to overfishing, ocean pollution, and marine solutions to climate change; offered to qualified institutional investors.
• SWEN Blue Ocean 2 (Fund 2) Second vintage of the firm's flagship ocean-impact fund, continuing the direct private equity strategy that invests in ocean biodiversity regeneration startups. Offered to qualified institutional investors; launched at the UN Ocean Conference in June 2025.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over €300 million mobilized for ocean startups
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers22 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

25 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• UN Ocean ConferenceflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025SWEN Blue Ocean 2 was launched at the UN Ocean Conference in June 2025, marking a significant milestone in the strategy's expansion and global recognition.
• IfremercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Scientific partnership with Ifremer (French national research institute for marine science) for the first fund launched at the World Conservation Congress of the IUCN in 2021. Ifremer provides research-backed deal flow evaluation and portfolio company support.
• Stanford COS (Center for Ocean Solutions)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Scientific partnership with Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions to accelerate science-backed solutions for ocean regeneration. Provides academic rigor and research collaboration.
• 1000 Ocean StartupscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe largest coalition of ocean impact entrepreneur-supporting organizations harnessing innovation for ocean health. Serves as the voice of Ocean Impact Innovation.
• BlueInvestcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean Commission initiative with the aim to accelerate new ocean-based technologies and solutions to unlock innovation and investment opportunities in the sustainable blue economy.
• Uplink (World Economic Forum)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUpLink is a digital platform to source innovative solutions for the world's most pressing problems. Recognized SWEN Blue Ocean as Top Innovator for the Future.
• Seaweed for EuropeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA coalition to advance and scale a sustainable and innovative seaweed industry in Europe. Blue Oceans Partners is a founding member of Seaweed for Europe.
• High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean EconomycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnique initiative by 18 world leaders who are building momentum for a sustainable ocean economy in which effective protection, sustainable production and equitable prosperity go hand in hand.
• OceanHub AfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAccelerates innovative impact-driven start-ups in Africa to protect the Oceans.
• TechstarsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal startup accelerator that connects founders with resources and networks to scale their businesses.
• Creative Destruction LabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies.
• The Ocean Opportunity Lab (TOOL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe world's first interactive map & resource matchmaking platform for innovators across ocean, renewables & circular solutions.
• Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal youth-led organization that empowers young leaders and ecopreneurs to build solutions that restore the health of our ocean.
• Sustainable Blue Economy Finance PrinciplescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles are the foundational keystone to invest in the ocean economy, led by UNEP FI.
• Conservation Finance AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe leading professional association for conservation finance experts and practitioners.
• changeNOWminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAccelerates change by connecting innovators, investors, companies, media, and cities all around the globe to join forces in finding solutions to the greatest challenges.
• Plug and PlayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConnecting the world's biggest companies with the world's best startups through industry-focused accelerator programs in Silicon Valley and beyond.
• Katapult OceanminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvests in and supports startups that have a positive impact on the ocean.
• Ocean ExchangeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal ecosystem that comprises experts from business, finance, academia, government, and non-profits around the world.
• UbuntoominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTech-enabled environmental solutions platform that uses collective intelligence to solve some of the planet's biggest challenges.
• Solar Impulse FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDedicated to improving the quality of life on Earth by fast-tracking the implementation of clean and profitable solutions.
• Respect OceanminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation committed to sustainable economic development in favor of the protection and preservation of the ocean, coasts and their ecosystems.
• World Ocean CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrings together the diverse ocean business community to collaborate on a shared vision of a healthy and productive ocean and its sustainable use and stewardship.
• Green Innovation GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerManagement consultancy dedicated to decarbonising various industries.
• Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation (CPIC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal, multi-stakeholder initiative focused on enabling conditions that support a material increase in private, return-seeking investment in conservation.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• S2G Ventures: Multi-stage impact fund focused on food, agriculture, and oceans with a much larger AUM. Overlaps on alt-protein, aquaculture and circular-economy ocean themes but operates across a wider mandate.
• Builders Vision: Impact investing platform backing companies across climate, food, and health — including ocean-related themes. Larger and broader mandate but overlaps in marine protein and ocean-tech categories.

Direct peers

• Katapult Ocean: Ocean-focused impact investor and accelerator backing startups that have a positive impact on the ocean. Highly comparable mandate, target stage, and ocean-tech thesis to SWEN Blue Ocean.
• Aqua-Spark: Specialist impact fund investing across the aquaculture value chain globally. Closely comparable in mission, fund structure, and ocean-economy focus, with a longer track record.
• Encourage Capital: Investment firm dedicated to building ocean and freshwater conservation economies through private capital. Directly comparable in combining financial returns with marine impact at scale.
• Sea Ahead: Venture fund backing startups solving the ocean's biggest challenges across marine energy, aquaculture, and ocean data. Similar stage, thesis, and ocean-tech focus.
• Hatch Blue: Aquaculture-focused investor and accelerator deploying capital into early-stage ocean-food startups. Comparable in aquaculture-tech deployment and ocean-impact thesis.
• Planet A Ventures: European impact VC backing startups with measurable ecological impact, including circular materials and ocean-related themes. Comparable in stage, European footprint, and science-backed thesis.

Others

• The Ocean Foundation: Largest US community foundation dedicated to the ocean; deploys grants and program-related investments. Adjacent in mission; comparable as an ocean-finance ecosystem participant but not a PE/VC competitor.
• Sustainable Ocean Alliance: Global organization supporting ocean-focused entrepreneurs through accelerators, grants, and venture support. Not a fund manager but operates an ocean-impact ecosystem that overlaps with SWEN Blue Ocean's network.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments19 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blue Oceans Partners