Katapult Ocean is an accelerator aimed at scaling companies that have a positive impact on the ocean. Through its work, it seeks to develop the sustainable ocean economy and advance the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Katapult Ocean invests in start-ups that have a direct or indirect impact on advancing the UN SDGs – in particular, SDG 14: Life Below Water. This includes several ocean-related sectors including transportation, ocean health, fisheries, aquaculture, energy and new frontiers (e.g. technology, robotics, industrial hardware, etc.).186 Once accepted in Katapult Ocean’s accelerator program, startups enjoy a three-month long training program focused on growth, investor readiness, leadership development, scalability and networking. This includes access to subject matter experts, business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and exposure to pilot customers, testing and data analytics. Additionally, Katapult Ocean invests between $150,000 and $300,000 into the accelerator start-ups, in exchange for around 8percent in equity shares.187 Start-ups in the Katapult Ocean “ecosystem” also benefit from a mentor network of over 100 people.188
As of the beginning of 2020, Katapult Ocean has raised about $4 million from a diverse set of investors including family officers, businesses and a pension fund.189 Since its inception in 2018 with its founding partner WWF, Katapult Ocean’s partner ecosystem has expanded to over 50 organizations, including Amazon Web Services, the World Bank, China Blue Sustainability Institute, McKinsey & Company, Hurtigruten and ABB.190
Katapult Ocean has made 32 investments into companies spanning 17 countries and four continents.191 Examples include Oceanium, a Scottish company creating bio packaging materials from seaweed; Saathi, an Indian company developing eco-friendly hygiene products; Undersea, a Portuguese realtime water data monitoring company; and ATLAN Space, a Moroccan technology company that produces drones and uses Artificial Intelligence to monitor pollution, track marine life and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.192
186 ‘The Blue World Perspective’. 2019. Katapult Ocean. https://katapultocean.com/blueworldperspective/.
187 ‘Financing the Ocean Technologies of Tomorrow’. 2020. World Ocean Initiative (blog). 24 March 2020. https://www.woi.economist.com/financing-the-ocean-technologies-of-tomorrow/.
188 ‘Mentors’. n.d. Katapult Ocean. Accessed 26 October 2020. https://katapultocean.com/mentors/.
189 ‘Financing the Ocean Technologies of Tomorrow’. 2020. World Ocean Initiative (blog). 24 March 2020. https://www.woi.economist.com/financing-the-ocean-technologies-of-tomorrow/.
190 ‘Ecosystem and Founding Partners’. n.d. Katapult Ocean. Accessed 26 October 2020. https://katapultocean.com/ecosystem/.
191 ecoSPEARS. 2020. ‘Norwegian Group Katapult Ocean Invests in EcoSPEARS Environmental Startup With NASA Clean Water Technology’. CISION PR Newswire. 14 October 2020. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/norwegian-group-katapult-ocean-invests-in-ecospears-environmental-startup-with-nasa-clean-water-technology-301151743.html.
192 ‘Portfolio’. n.d. Katapult Ocean. Accessed 26 October 2020. https://katapultocean.com/portfolio/.