Hatch & Conservation International Ventures bring back world's first business program for female entrepreneurs in East & Southeast Asia–Women in Ocean Food Innovation Studio 2022

On 26 Aug, Hatch, a global Venture Capital firm and Accelerator Programme for the aquaculture industry, launched its Women in Ocean Food Innovation Studio in partnership with Conservation International Ventures and main local partner Konservasi Indonesia. With a focus on East and Southeast Asia, this programme is targeted at female founders in the seafood industry. The programme is targeting a cohort of 10 teams and accepting applications from various sectors in the seafood industry including seaweed, aquaculture, processing and those providing technological solutions for ocean food systems.

The aquaculture industry requires the best innovation and talent to be able to perform at its full potential in the wider context of multiple crises. An increase in founder diversity is essential for shaping a sustainable future for the aquaculture industry. However, on the investment side, women-led businesses across all sectors in the US only received 2.3% of VC funding in 2020 with similar trends observed in the UK. This lack of startup funding further affects gender equality in employment as female founders hire more women on average.

While progress has been made, only 14% of the top positions in the top 100 seafood corporations are women as analyzed by the International Organization for Women in the Seafood Industry (WSI). In the same study by WSI, only 5% of 80 seafood companies analyzed had women in more than 40% of leadership roles. Globally, women make up half of the seafood workforce according to the FAO.

“Having delivered our inaugural female-focused aquaculture innovation studio last year we are acutely aware firsthand of what women bring to business and the seafood industry. Building on those learnings we are very excited about the prospects for this year’s program, which has a specific focus on the East and Southeast Asia region and will be held in Bali Indonesia. Almost 40% of our own portfolio is led by women founders or have women in leadership positions and we want to continue that trend to support more female leaders within the seafood industry.

“It is critical that this type of initiative gets the buy-in and support of the industry along with the investment and philanthropic community, in order to achieve the necessary impact and societal changes needed” says Wayne Murphy, Co-founder and Partner of Hatch.

Tanja Hoel, Director of Hatch Innovation Services, concurs that “this is an amazing opportunity for the industry and investors to empower more women in the industry and to support a strong female-driven innovation community,” she adds. “I would also like to come with a strong appeal to the established aquaculture industry: in 2022 we expect companies to have a more actionable approach in attracting and supporting more female business leaders to our sector. Cargill and Yamaha Motor Ventures have been very engaged and supportive of this industry and moving forward I sincerely hope to see more corporates and VCs to be engaged in this topic.”

This studio is being run in partnership with Conservation International Ventures, an impact-first investment vehicle providing flexible financing solutions for enterprises that reinforce conservation, restoration and sustainable management of the critical ecosystems that deliver the essential goods and services upon which we all depend. Gracie White, Lead of Ocean Investments at CI Ventures, adds that “The VC funding gender gap is something that keeps me up at night. There are so many time-sensitive problems facing our global oceans today, directly threatening food security, coastal livelihoods, and more - down to the very oxygen we breathe. We have a deep responsibility to ensure that all potential innovators and future leaders have a chance to develop and scale potential solutions."

This Innovation Studio is supported by experienced industry mentors such as Darian McBain, current Chief Sustainability Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore and with more than 6 years of experience as Global Director of Sustainability at Thai Union. Darian states that “as a champion for a sustainable ocean economy, it was a great experience to collaborate with female entrepreneurs who are helping to solve global food challenges.

Being a mentor gives me an opportunity to connect with new ideas, inspiring people and share some of my experiences with our community.”

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council was a key sponsor for the inaugural Women in Aquaculture Innovation Studio last year and continues their support of the initiative. Roy van Daatselaar, Global Lead of their Improver Program, says “Gender equality is one of the critical aspects of sustainable aquaculture that the ASC programme works towards. We recognise that to unlock its full potential within the aquaculture industry, we need to go beyond certification. This is why we are partnering with the HATCH Women in Ocean Food programme. It is a unique initiative to support female entrepreneurs in the blue foods industry and nourish a diverse network of future leaders.

This initiative is similarly supported by global and regional partners in the aquaculture industry. These partners include Cargill, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Minapoli, and StartupSG. Interested partners and sponsors are actively encouraged to reach out to the organisers at benedict@hatch.blue to see how they can get involved.

The programme will kick off on 31 Oct 2022 and will last two weeks. About Hatch

HATCH is a global venture capital company that invests in sustainable aquaculture and alternative seafood. Since 2017, HATCH has invested in more than 35 companies, run four successful cohorts, raised its first US $8M fund and established offices in Hawaii, Norway and Singapore. The team has grown to +23 full-time members spread across the globe, who run the three business units of Hatch – our accelerator program, our fund and our innovation services offering.

About the Conservation International Ventures

Founded in 2018, Conservation International Ventures LLC is an impact-first investment vehicle providing flexible financing solutions for enterprises that reinforce conservation, restoration and sustainable management of the critical ecosystems that deliver the essential goods and services upon which we all depend. CI Ventures is managed by Conservation International, a leading U.S. nonprofit environmental organization working in more than 30 countries on 7 continents globally. Implementation of the Women in Ocean Food Innovation Studio is supported by CI’s main local partner, Konservasi Indonesia.

About the Aquaculture Stewardship Council

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is the world’s leading certification scheme for farmed seafood – known as aquaculture – and the ASC label only appears on food from farms that have been independently assessed and certified as being environmentally and socially responsible.

Media Contact:

Sarid Ditton

Marketing Executive, HATCH

+1 (541) 514-9050

sarid@hatch.blue