Okeanos

What Okeanos does

Okeanos – Stiftung für das Meer (Okeanos Foundation for the Sea) is a German independent non-profit foundation under civil law, registered in Hesse, that funds and operates ocean conservation and youth education programs. Founded in 1990 by Dieter Paulmann following his encounter with a white sperm whale, the foundation is headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, and operates with a small team (11-50 employees) across Germany, France, and Sweden. Its core operational asset is a traditional Polynesian catamaran, the Vaka Okeanos, used as a mobile education and research platform; the broader foundation oversees a fleet of 16 traditionally built Vakas developed in cooperation with Pacific island communities.

The foundation's primary programmatic offering is the WAVES OF ACTION youth initiative, launched in 2022 in the Mediterranean, which delivers OceanCamps for teenagers and young adults aged 16-21 built on three pillars: Marine Biology, Education for Sustainable Development, and Education for Inner Development. The foundation runs nine own camps and four SpecialCamps annually, including partner programs with Young DGAP, SEASIDE greenD Summer School, and Bene's Sailing School, reaching approximately 70 participants per year plus a recurring community of roughly 50 alumni engaged via annual community weekends. Supplementary offerings include the BaseCamp preparation program, journalism fellowships (Ocean Journalism Scholarship in partnership with TAZ, Wave Writer), research funding (Talking Salmon, Volcano Waka Lab, Noisebusters, RiffReporter series), artistic initiatives (Whalefall sound experience, Save the Wave documentary, WE ARE OCEAN), and lecture/mentoring series (Active Hope, Learning from the Sea, Wayfinder).

Okeanos generates no commercial revenue; the foundation is funded through donations and grants and operates as a Stiftung des privaten Rechts. Its GTM motion is community-led and event-driven, with the Vaka Okeanos serving as a mobile hub for international ocean conferences (including the 2025 UN Ocean Conference in Nice), youth delegations, and scientific cooperation with institutions such as Senckenberg, the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), and the University of Gothenburg. Founder and Chairman Dieter Paulmann continues to lead the organization, which has accumulated 35 years of brand recognition in marine conservation, including a feature documentary (Racing Extinction, 2015) broadcast in 220 countries and awarded "Best Green Film of the Decade" by the Green Film Network.

Name

Okeanos

Legal name

Okeanos – Stiftung für das Meer

Website

https://okeanos-foundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Okeanos – Stiftung für das Meer is a German non-profit foundation that funds and operates ocean conservation programs, primarily the WAVES OF ACTION youth initiative and OceanCamps aboard the Vaka Okeanos catamaran, serving teenagers, young adults, and partner institutions across Germany, France, and Sweden.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ocean conservation foundation services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Marine & Freshwater Conservation (BPAGAGAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Sailing, Catamaran & Day-Cruise Excursions (nature-focused) (THAAAIAG), Marine Conservation & Citizen-Science Experiences (reef monitoring, turtle walks) (THAAAIAH)

Keywords

• Ocean conservation education
• Youth marine programs
• Experiential sailing camps
• Non-profit foundation
• Marine research projects

Headquarters

HQ city

Highland Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation Funding and Grants: Okeanos is an independent foundation under German civil law (Stiftung des privaten Rechts) that operates through funding, donations, and grants rather than commercial revenue generation. The foundation promotes current research projects, interdisciplinary knowledge transfer, and communication strategies. All programs including OceanCamps are offered to participants, suggesting scholarship/funded access rather than paid services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Okeanos – Foundation for the Sea is an independent non-profit foundation under German civil law that delivers experiential ocean-education and youth-engagement programs, primarily through its WAVES OF ACTION initiative and OceanCamps sailing programs aboard the traditional Polynesian catamaran Vaka Okeanos in the Mediterranean, North Sea and Baltic Sea. The foundation funds and operates fellowships, research projects, artistic initiatives and school programs that connect young people, journalists, scientists and decision-makers with marine conservation, and is funded through donations and grants rather than commercial sales.

Product overview

Okeanos Foundation for the Sea is a German non-profit foundation focused on ocean conservation and youth education. The organization operates primarily through experiential programs rather than a unified software product. Its core offerings include the traditional Polynesian catamaran Vaka Okeanos serving as a mobile education platform, the WAVES OF ACTION youth initiative combining Marine Biology, Education for Sustainable Development, and Education for Inner Development, and OceanCamps programs in France, Germany (Hallig Hooge/North Sea), and Sweden. Additional programs include journalism fellowships (Ocean Journalism Scholarship, Wave Writer), research projects (Talking Salmon, Volcano Waka Lab, Noisebusters), artistic initiatives (Whalefall sound experience, Save the Wave documentary, WE ARE OCEAN), lecture and workshop series (Learning from the Sea, Active Hope), and mentoring programs (Wayfinder). The foundation also supports marine journalism through RiffReporter funding and maintains scientific cooperations with institutions like the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WAVES OF ACTION: Youth initiative of the Okeanos Foundation for the Sea focused on ocean conservation, connecting young people emotionally with the ocean through OceanCamps, workshops, and community projects.
• Vaka Okeanos
• OceanCamps

Products and services

• Vaka Okeanos Traditional Polynesian catamaran used as a mobile education and youth-initiative platform for OceanCamps in the Mediterranean Sea (primarily off southern France) and for hosting events at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice 2025.
• WAVES OF ACTION youth initiative WAVES OF ACTION is the foundation's people-centered youth initiative connecting young Europeans emotionally with the ocean through OceanCamps, workshops, networking events and youth-developed projects, structured on three pillars: Marine Biology, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and Education for Inner Development.
• OceanCamps Experiential learning camps for young people aged 16–21 held aboard Vaka Okeanos and at BaseCamp locations in France, Germany (Hallig Hooge) and Sweden, focused on marine ecology, education for sustainable development and inner development.
• OceanCamps Sweden Pilot OceanCamps project launched in 2025 on Sweden's west coast in a Natura 2000 area, where participants visit the Tjärnö Marine Laboratory at the University of Gothenburg, sustainable seaweed cultivation start-ups and engage in kayaking, snorkelling and sailing activities.
• BaseCamp Pre-camp preparation week held since 2025 on the Baltic Sea in Germany, where OceanCamp participants gather for intensive content preparation, process orientation and group dynamics training before sailing on Vaka Okeanos.
• OceanCamp 2.0: Hallig Hooge OceanCamp program established in 2024 on Hallig Hooge (North Sea, Germany), offering sailing with Bene's sailing school from Föhr, mudflat hiking, climate education and co-creative flexible programming in collaboration with local communities.
• Scholarship Ocean Journalism Research fellowship for young journalists who spend a week aboard Vaka Okeanos developing marine reporting skills on topics such as overfishing and noise pollution, with results published in partnership with TAZ newspaper.
• Wave Writer Fellowship supporting outstanding nature writers to produce travelogues and written works exploring human relationships with water bodies worldwide; Michaela Vieser was the 2022 Wave Writer.
• Wayfinder mentoring program Cross-generational mentoring program developed with Waldorf School Darmstadt for students, alumni and teachers, focused on personal development for social and ecological commitment and sustainable future navigation.
• Active Hope event series Discussion event series exploring hope, resilience and personal engagement in environmental work, featuring experts from various fields and hosted aboard Vaka Okeanos during the UN Ocean Conference in Nice 2025.
• Learning from the Sea lecture series Lecture series providing insights into the ecological, social and economic aspects of oceans and seas, exploring what humans can learn from marine ecosystems.
• UNOC Explained youth reporting Youth reporting project from the UN Ocean Conference in Nice (2025) where young people from WAVES OF ACTION prepared for months to deliver accessible reporting, interviews and live coverage about ocean issues.
• Save the Wave documentary film Documentary film produced by the WAVES OF ACTION youth project group exploring whether 'protected' marine areas are truly safe, featuring interviews with marine conservation experts including Dr. Enric Sala and Professor Dr Antje Boetius.
• Whalefall immersive sound experience Immersive sound experience recreating the phenomenon of a whale fall across its four transformation phases, created by Michaela Vieser and Matas Petrikas and offered as open source to scientific institutions.
• Volcano Waka Lab research platform International research initiative combining traditional Polynesian Vaka vessels with modern technology as a mobile laboratory for measuring volcanic gases, aerosols and isotopic signatures at Melanesian volcanoes, on land and underwater.
• Talking Salmon research project Research project at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences exploring how migratory salmon-like fish can be used to tell cross-genre, cross-media stories about sea–river–forest connections and the human–nature boundary; funded by the Okeanos Foundation.
• RiffReporter marine journalism funding Funding for a RiffReporter investigative series on the future of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, producing 12 articles under the direction of Tomma Schröder and Katja Trippel in collaboration with renowned science journalists.
• WE ARE OCEAN school program Global project bringing together artists, collectors, pupils, students, teachers, scientists and political decision-makers to raise awareness of the ocean's environmental state through artistic processes; supported by Okeanos in partnership with ARTPORT and rolled out to a school in Hesse in 2025.
• Noisebusters conservation initiative Conservation project addressing underwater noise pollution from the navy, oil industry and commercial shipping that threatens marine mammals; supports symposia on ocean noise, climate change and the role of phytoplankton.
• Coral Reef in Frankfurt funded exhibition Foundation funding for an artificial Indo-Pacific coral reef exhibition at Senckenberg Naturmuseum Frankfurt, displaying over 3,000 organisms depicted by taxidermists in cooperation with scientists.
• SeagrassGuards youth project WAVES OF ACTION youth project group dedicated to raising awareness about seagrass meadows and their ecosystem services, producing educational booklets for stakeholders about safe anchoring methods to protect seagrass.

Quantifiable outcome

• 70 teenagers and young adults reached through OceanCamps annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ARTPORTcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ARTPORT is an international curatorial collective working at the interface of art, science, and extracurricular education for climate protection and marine conservation. Since 2005, the collective has been drawing attention to climate change causes, consequences, and solutions through exhibitions, film productions, competitions, workshops, conferences, and educational programs. Okeanos supports ARTPORT in bringing the WE ARE OCEAN project to schools in Hesse.
• Senckenberg Institute for Nature ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Joint organization of Youth Talanoa on Active Hope in Times of Earth System Crisis and Breakfast Discussion 'From Active Hope to Action' aboard Vaka Okeanos and aboard research vessel Meteor during UN Ocean Conference. Partner in coral reef exhibition at Senckenberg Naturmuseum Frankfurt.
• Senckenberg Ocean Species AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Co-organization of events during UN Ocean Conference including Youth Talanoa sessions with experts from marine science community.
• University of Gothenburg / Tjärnö Marine LaboratoryminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025OceanCamp Sweden program includes visits to Tjärnö Marine Laboratory for marine ecology education component.
• Conservation International New ZealandminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Discussion on 'Indigenous wisdom and nature-based financing to protect the oceans' hosted aboard Vaka Okeanos during UN Ocean Conference.
• Kamehameha Schools and Green Growth HawaiiminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Youth delegates brought to panel discussions aboard Vaka Okeanos exploring place-based wisdom and cultural intelligence contributions to ocean conservation.
• DeepwaveminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Expert discussions aboard Vaka Okeanos on shifting narratives in deep-sea mining during UN Ocean Conference.
• Young DGAP (German Council on Foreign Relations)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Specialized camp partnership where Young DGAP team led by Dr. Kira Vinke explores ocean governance topics including climate change, migration, deep-sea mining, underwater noise pollution, and fisheries aboard Vaka Okeanos.
• greenD / SEASIDE Summer SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Design students from all over Germany spending eight days exploring the connection between design and ocean protection, transferring experiences into sustainable design education.
• RiffReporterminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Marine journalism funding partnership producing investigative reportage series on Mediterranean, North Sea, and Baltic Sea ecosystems. Under direction of Tomma Schröder and Katja Trippel, produced 12 articles on changing seas.
• Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr. Torsten Schäfer)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Talking Salmon research project conducted at the university investigating journalism improvements for sea and rivers topics and holistic narratives using migratory salmon-like fish. Project funded by Okeanos Foundation.
• Bene's Sailing School (Föhr)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Cooperation for OceanCamp 2.0 on Hallig Hooge providing tidal sailing experiences and maritime education.
• TAZ NewspapercoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2023Media partner for Ocean Journalism scholarship program. Published results as comprehensive dossier bringing important ocean topics to broad audience.
• Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Cooperation with ZMT scientists for research expeditions in the Pacific. Pilot project with Okeanos crew conducting interviews and data collection on remote Vanuatu islands (Malekula and Maskelyn). Explored use of Polynesian catamarans for research purposes.
• Victoria University of Wellington (Dr. Ian Schipper)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Volcano Waka Lab research collaboration measuring gases, aerosols, and isotopic signatures at Melanesian volcanoes. Okeanos crew knowledge and Vaka Motu accessibility enabled first phase success.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• EarthEcho International: Youth-focused marine conservation education non-profit founded by Philippe Cousteau Jr., engaging young people in ocean stewardship. Highly comparable mission targeting teen and young-adult audiences in marine conservation.
• Class Afloat: Tall-ship-based secondary and university education program offering semester-at-sea experiences. Comparable as a vessel-based youth education model focused on personal development, though operating more as a fee-paying school.
• Pangaea Explorations: Sailing-based ocean exploration and education organization running youth and adult expeditions on research vessels. Closest comparable to Okeanos in combining traditional sailing platforms with marine science education and citizen-research participation.
• Sailors for the Sea: Sailing-community ocean conservation non-profit mobilizing boaters as ocean stewards through education and citizen-science programs. Comparable intersection of sailing culture and marine conservation education.
• Sea Education Association: Non-profit ocean-education organization offering semester-long sailing-based programs for university students aboard tall ships. Directly comparable experiential-learning model using vessels as floating classrooms for marine science and policy.
• Sail Training International: International non-profit promoting character development through sail training on tall ships and traditional vessels for young people. Closely aligned with Okeanos' youth-sailing-development mission and use of traditional vessels.

Broad incumbents

• Ocean Conservancy: Major U.S.-based marine conservation advocacy non-profit with global policy reach, including Trash Free Seas and ocean-policy programs. Comparable ocean-policy engagement but at materially larger scale and broader programmatic scope.
• Mission Blue: Sylvia Earle Alliance-led marine conservation organization driving Hope Spot marine protected areas and global ocean advocacy. Operates at significantly larger scale in marine conservation than Okeanos but shares the marine-protection mission.

Emerging players

• 5 Gyres: Non-profit focused on plastic-pollution research, education, and policy. Comparable as a marine-conservation education NGO using citizen science and public engagement, though focused specifically on plastic rather than broader ocean education.
• ProMare: Marine research non-profit using traditional vessels and modern technology for ocean exploration and science communication. Comparable combination of traditional maritime assets and modern research/education mission.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Okeanos