Ocean Assets Institute

What Ocean Assets Institute does

Ocean Assets Institute is a Swiss non-profit association founded in 2016 by D. Michael Adams and registered in Valais, Switzerland, alongside a related consultancy entity, Ocean Assets Sàrl. The organization provides research and advisory services to investors, grantors, project managers, and ocean organisations on financing healthy oceans, with work spanning blue foods, green maritime, coastal resilience, and MSME finance gap analysis. Its signature offering is BlueDeals & Grants, a curated marketplace launched in 2023 with the support of ADB, UNDP, and UNEP, connecting revenue-generating blue economy SMEs and sustainable NGOs raising more than $2 million with financiers seeking financial and impact returns across debt, equity, and grants. Supporting products include the Investment Readiness Toolkit for SMEs and the Decarbonizer Tool, which helps shipowners identify appropriate green technologies per vessel.

Name

Ocean Assets Institute

Legal name

Ocean Assets Institute

Website

https://oceanassets.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ocean Assets Institute is a Swiss non-profit that provides research, advisory, and the BlueDeals platform connecting blue economy SMEs seeking capital with financiers seeking financial and impact returns.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Blue Economy Investment Advisory

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Other Support Activities for Water Transportation (48839)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Oceans, Coastal & Marine Resource Management (BPADALAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Offshore & Open-Ocean Aquaculture (AFAEAAAH)

Keywords

• Blue economy finance
• Sustainable maritime investment
• Ocean impact advisory
• Aquaculture capital markets
• Green shipping finance

Headquarters

HQ city

Geneva

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research and Advisory Services: The institute provides research and advisory services to investors, grantors, project managers and ocean organisations worldwide on all aspects of financing healthy oceans. Revenue appears to be generated through consultancy engagements and advisory fees.
2. BlueDeals Platform Facilitation: BlueDeals platform facilitates introductions between blue economy SMEs seeking capital (>$2 million) and financiers. The platform provides deal curation, impact metrics, and deal aggregation services. BlueDeals is an initiative owned and operated by Ocean Assets Institute.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ocean Assets Institute is a Swiss non-profit research and advisory organization that drives capital to ocean health solutions. It runs the BlueDeals & Grants platform, which curates and matches blue economy SMEs raising more than USD 2 million with financiers (debt, equity, grants), and provides tailored advisory services to investors, grantors, governments, and ocean organizations on financing healthy oceans. Supporting offerings include the Investment Readiness Toolkit for SMEs and thematic research publications covering sustainable seafood, green maritime, and marine conservation finance.

Product overview

Ocean Assets Institute operates as a research and advisory organization offering a suite of interconnected products and services. The core offering is the BlueDeals & Grants platform, a financing matching platform for blue economy projects seeking capital ($2M+) and financiers seeking curated deals. Supporting this platform are the Investment Readiness Toolkit providing free SME resources, and specialized research focus areas in Blue Foods (sustainable seafood/aquaculture), Green Maritime (shipping and ports decarbonization with the Decarbonizer Tool), and MSME Finance Gap analysis. The organization conducts research across three main themes and publishes insights through a blog covering marine energy, green shipping, coastal resilience, and sustainable seafood finance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BlueDeals & Grants: Platform to help scale impactful blue economy projects, connecting borrowers in sustainable seafood value chains with financiers for debt, equity, and grants.
• BlueDeals

Products and services

• BlueDeals & Grants Platform An online platform, launched in 2023, that connects revenue-generating blue economy SMEs and sustainable NGOs raising more than USD 2 million with financiers seeking impact and financial returns across debt, equity, and grants. The platform applies four screening criteria (financing type, sector across blue foods/shipping/ports/pollution/conservation, raise size, and positive environmental/social impact) and provides registered financiers with access to data rooms and curated deal flow globally.
• Investment Readiness Toolkit A free SME-facing resource offering guides on understanding the SME finance environment, raising debt and equity finance strategies, understanding impact metrics, developing effective business presentations, and sample documents. Targeted at blue economy SMEs seeking to become investor-ready before approaching financiers through BlueDeals or other channels.
• Research and Advisory Services Custom research and advisory services provided to investors, grantors, project managers, and ocean organizations worldwide on all aspects of financing healthy oceans. Includes investment strategy advice, platform development, event support, and production of major studies such as the Blue Economy Knowledge Product (covering 30 Developing Member Countries) and the Shipping & Ports Finance chapter of UNEP FI's Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles.

Quantifiable outcome

• Aquaculture projected to grow at 5%+ compound annually to 2035
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Asian Development Bank (ADB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023ADB supported the launch of BlueDeals & Grants initiative in 2023. Ocean Assets Institute led the Blue Economy Knowledge Product for ADB covering 30 Developing Member Countries. Ongoing collaboration on financing green shipping and ports in developing countries.
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023UNDP supported the launch of BlueDeals & Grants initiative in 2023. Joint work on the Blue Economy Knowledge Product (BEKP) and SME BlueImpact Asia programme to mobilise investment for sustainable blue economy SMEs.
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023UNEP supported the launch of BlueDeals & Grants initiative in 2023. Collaboration on Blue Economy Knowledge Product and sustainable blue economy finance principles. Ocean Assets Institute authored the Shipping and Ports Chapter for UNEP Finance Initiative's Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles.
• Zero Emission Ship Technology Association (ZESTA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOcean Assets Group is a member and advisor to ZESTA, led the financial delegation to COP26 under ZESTA's ShipZero Initiative. Joint guest speaker with ZESTAs at IMO on Financing Decarbonisation in the Global South.
• Climate Bonds InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of the Shipping Working Group establishing comprehensive standards for green bond issues in shipping and ports sectors. Active dialogue maintained on climate resilience principles.
• European Commission - DG MarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsultant on teams for BlueInvest (financing blue economy SMEs) and ASPBAN (Atlantic Strategic Ports Blue Economy Accelerator Network) initiatives.
• International Maritime Organization (IMO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGuest speaker with ZESTAs on Financing Decarbonisation in the Global South. Active engagement on IMO Projects & Partnerships for maritime decarbonisation.
• Global Maritime ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive dialogue maintained with Global Maritime Forum and its initiatives including Poseidon Principles (35 banks representing 80% of global shipping finance), Getting to Zero Coalition (200+ organisations), and Sea Cargo Charter.
• UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAuthored the Blue Bonds for Fisheries briefing paper in 2019, distributed to fisheries management organisations worldwide.
• World Ocean CouncilmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmbassador network member and active participant in World Ocean Council initiatives for sustainable blue economy and global impact investment.
• WorldFishmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmbassador relationship with WorldFish Director General Essam Y. Mohammed. Collaboration on seafood value chains and blue foods financing.
• Poseidon PrinciplesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive engagement with this framework for assessing and disclosing climate alignment of ship lending. Signed by 35 leading banks representing 80% of global shipping finance.
• SME BlueImpact Asia ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOcean Assets Group executes SME BlueImpact Asia with support from ADB, UNDP, and UNEP consortium. Initiative produces Investment Readiness Toolkit for blue economy SMEs in Asia.
• Hatch BluesupportingOthersPart of global expert network for blue economy investment readiness, providing expertise across seafood, marine conservation and related sectors.
• Blueyou GroupsupportingOthersPart of global expert network for seafood and blue economy advisory services.
• Future of FishsupportingOthersPart of global expert network providing expertise in sustainable seafood finance.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• NatureVest (The Nature Conservancy): The impact investment arm of The Nature Conservancy, deploying and structuring private capital into nature-based solutions and conservation finance. Comparable in deploying blended blue-and-green capital and structuring impact deals.
• Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN): A global membership and research body advancing impact investing, including building infrastructure for capital to reach impact fund managers and SMEs. Comparable in operating a curated network and intelligence layer for impact capital deployment.
• Poseidon Principles Association: The framework body representing 35 banks covering ~80% of global shipping finance on climate-aligned ship lending. Comparable as a maritime-decarbonisation governance and standards body that OAI actively engages with.
• Global Maritime Forum: An international maritime-focused organisation convening industry leaders on decarbonisation and responsible shipping (Getting to Zero Coalition, Sea Cargo Charter). Comparable as the broader convener around the same shipping-finance ecosystem OAI serves.

Direct peers

• Climate Bonds Initiative: An international organisation working to mobilize debt capital for climate and environmental solutions through standards and verification (e.g., the Shipping Working Group in which OAI participates). Highly comparable as a niche standards, advisory and market-infrastructure body operating at the intersection of finance and environment.
• Hatch Blue: An aquaculture-focused investment and advisory firm and existing OAI expert-network partner. Closely comparable in focusing capital, advice and networks specifically on blue economy / seafood opportunities.
• Convergence Blended Finance: A global blended finance catalysation platform that curates connections between investors and high-impact projects in emerging markets. Directly comparable to BlueDeals as a curated matchmaking marketplace, including in the blue economy space.

Emerging players

• Encourage Capital: An impact-investing advisory firm that designs blended-finance and conservation-finance structures, including in the oceans/seafood space. Comparable in advising on innovative finance structures that crowd private capital into environmental outcomes.
• Pollination Group: A specialist advisory firm focused on climate and nature-linked finance and corporate transition. Comparable as a boutique sustainability-finance advisory practice that competes for the same policy- and mandate-driven advisory work.
• Systemiq: A systems-change advisory and investment firm focused on climate, nature and ocean transitions. Comparable as a small, mission-driven advisory that blends research, capital-mobilisation and partnerships across sustainability themes.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ocean-assets-institute
• Xx.com/oceanassets1

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Ocean Assets Institute