Hatch Blue

Hatch Blue Research

Overview

Hatch Blue is a specialist aquaculture and blue-economy investment platform headquartered in Cork, Ireland, with offices in Ireland, Norway, Singapore and Germany. It was conceived in late 2017 by Carsten Krome, Georg Baunach and Wayne Murphy, and launched what it calls the world's first aquaculture accelerator in Bergen, Norway in early 2018. It now runs three business units: investments, consulting (Hatch Innovation Services) and venture programs. The team is 30+ people. The firm reports 80+ investments, 3 exits, four investment vehicles, two actively deploying funds, and roughly EUR 118M total AUM.

Investment Thesis

Hatch Blue backs innovation along the aquaculture and seafood value chain: next-generation farming systems, regenerative aquaculture (seaweed and bivalves), nutrition and feed ingredients, enabling technology (sensors, data, monitoring), health and genetics, and alternative seafood (plant-based and cell-cultured). The stated aim is competitive returns plus healthier oceans. The Blue Revolution Fund has The Nature Conservancy as impact and conservation partner, which screens each company for impact. The firm's consulting arm (200+ projects in 40+ countries) gives it deal flow and technical diligence depth that most generalist funds lack.

Funds and Stage Focus

• Blue Revolution Fund (BRF): thesis-led growth-stage fund, EUR 93M final close (2022 to 2023), seed and Series A. Tickets EUR 500K to EUR 6M, open to leading or co-leading, significant reserves held for follow-ons. About 4 to 6 months from first conversation to close. Takes a board seat in most cases.
• Hatch Accelerator Fund II (HFII): accelerator-driven fund. Standard initial investment is $75K via an uncapped, step-discounted SAFE, made through the CREST program open call. Ownership is assessed at follow-on.
• Previous funds: a 2019 vintage ($8.4M deployed, 25 investments, 2 exits) and a 2018 vintage (EUR 1.76M deployed, 18 investments, 1 exit).
• A balance sheet also holds some positions.

Check Size and Lead Tendency

Initial accelerator checks are $75K. BRF checks run EUR 500K to EUR 6M. The firm says it is open to leading or co-leading and has no strict ownership target (explicitly unlike the 20 to 25% typical of traditional VCs). Lead tendency is recorded as "both".

Recent Activity

• August 2026: BRF committed equity to Oceanloop (Germany, land-based aquaculture, Europe's first farmed giant grouper) as part of up to EUR 38.5M in financing alongside Stolt Ventures and a debt component.
• February 2026: Builders Vision took a minority GP-level stake in the Hatch Blue holding company. Builders Vision was already an LP in BRF and a partner since 2017.
• October 2026: published a report on barriers and opportunities for investment in U.S. aquaculture.
• The firm is hosting the North Atlantic Blue BioTech Summit in Portland, Maine in March 2027, and has announced an aquaculture innovation studio in Japan with UMITO Partners.
• Fund status: actively deploying from BRF and HFII.

Portfolio Highlights

The portfolio page lists about 70 companies. Notable names:

• Symbrosia (SeaGraze, Asparagopsis red seaweed feed additive that cuts cattle methane), backed in 2019 before it had a product.
• Manolin (fish health data), CageEye (hydroacoustic feeding), Wittaya Aqua (aquaculture analytics).
• Umami Bioworks and Finless Foods (cultivated seafood), New School Foods (plant-based seafood).
• Brilliant Planet (algae-based carbon removal), Aquaconnect (aquaculture inputs and fintech platform in India).
• ChucaoTech (nanobubble oxygenation), DeNova (single-cell protein), Peptobiotics (antimicrobial peptides).
• Exits shown on the page: GenetiRate and Alune Aqua.

Team

• Carsten Krome, Managing Partner and Co-Founder (PhD aquaculture nutrition, Stirling; founded Alimentos Ventures in 2016)
• Georg Baunach, CEO and Co-Founder (molecular biotechnologist, London Business School)
• Wayne Murphy, Co-Founder and Partner, Programs
• Caitriona Kelleher, Managing Director, Investments
• Linda Chen, Investment Manager (ex The Nature Conservancy, Morgan Stanley; writes the aquablurb deal newsletter)
• Sol Park, Principal (INSEAD MBA, impact investing)
• Sophia Sperandeo de Macedo, Associate

Decision Process

BRF: deck review, a 30-minute founder meeting, an assessment note reviewed weekly by the deal-flow team, impact screening by The Nature Conservancy, then investment committee, then legal. Process is committee-based. HFII: open-call application to the CREST program, then diligence. A warm intro is not stated as required.

Founder Preferences

Technology and science-led founders solving real production, feed, health, traceability or sustainability problems in aquaculture, including female-led teams (the firm runs the Women in Ocean Food program). Impact alignment matters because of the conservation partner screen.

Geographic Focus

Global. Portfolio spans Norway, Ireland, the US (including Hawaii), Canada, Singapore, Chile, India, Germany and others. Programs run across Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and North America.

Gaps

No company domains were taken from the portfolio page because it is a logo wall with no links, so all domains are null. Stage at investment is not stated per company and is omitted. Individual LinkedIn URLs and emails were not retrieved.