Blue Buyout Fund

IUCN – Conservation Capital (Africa)

Many investors state that they would like to invest more capital in nature based instruments and companies but generally agree that one of the main issues is the lack of bankable projects. This is especially true for blue economy investments. Venture capital and other early stage investors are known to be some of the best placed actors to structure and develop a sector by providing the necessary equity investments as well as the indispensable expertise, experience and network to make pilot projects become thriving and successful businesses. Encouraging more early stage venture funding in the blue economy would greatly increase the options for larger investments in the future. One barrier to increased venture funding is the lack of adequate exit opportunities (as in many countries in Africa). In this project, IUCN and Conservation Capital (CC) propose the development of a Blue Buyout Fund (BBF), dedicated to enhance the development of blue and inclusive entrepreneurial businesses in Africa by catalyzing venture capital investments and providing technical assistance support. The Blue Buyout Fund is intended to respond to the challenges described above by providing potential exit opportunities to venture investors, therefore reducing the barriers to invest into the sustainable blue economy sector and encouraging more experimentation.