August 11, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

S2G Ventures, a multi-stage VC fund investing across the food, agriculture, agtech, and foodtech verticals, is now expanding its horizons by launching a dedicated $100 million oceans and seafood investment strategy. 

With a commitment to advance sustainable solutions for the climate, as well as the health of humans and the planet, it follows that S2G would turn its focus to the oceans.

If the Earth’s oceans were equated to an economy – they would represent a “blue economy” consisting of jobs, products, and services valued at $2.5 trillion a year – ranking them as the seventh largest economy in the world, according to WRI.org. 

However, as the effects of climate change intensify over time, the oceans have absorbed more than 90 percent of the excess heat trapped in Earth’s climate system since the 1970s. This has resulted in extreme disruptions to weather systems and significant negative effects on the world’s marine ecosystems.

And although seafood accounts for a major category of our shared food system, providing protein for more than 3 billion people, S2G Ventures noted that it has been undercapitalized while capital committed to land-based fish farming systems have accelerated.

For the past six years S2G has backed pioneering entrepreneurs and cutting-edge technologies aiming to improve the health and sustainability of our food system, and has deployed capital across the supply chain in innovators looking to create better outcomes for people and the planet, including Beyond Meat, Apeel Sciences, Greenlight Biosciences, MycoTechnology, sweetgreen, and many others.

Now, under its new oceans and seafood strategy, S2G will seek to invest in early, venture and growth stage companies spanning the globe and thematic areas, including seafood and alternative proteins, aquaculture and supply chain innovations, traceability and transparency, algae and seaweed, and ecosystems services. 

To accomplish this, the fund has expanded its team, announcing the addition of Kate Danaher and Larsen Mettler as managing directors to manage the Oceans and Seafood platform.

“We are excited to have Kate and Larsen joining our team to lead and launch this strategy,” said Chuck Templeton, managing director, S2G Ventures.  “They bring deep experience in working with entrepreneurs and are a great fit with our organization’s culture and commitment to impact.”

Kate Danaher comes to S2G Ventures with eight years of experience in impact investing and sustainable food and agriculture. Prior to joining S2G, Danaher was chief lending officer at RSF Social Finance where she oversaw the capital deployment strategy to evaluate products, investment sectors, and growth objectives in alignment with the organization’s strategic plan. As a food and ag finance export, she specializes in structuring capital, facilitating syndications, and providing wrap-around resources to enable businesses to scale while maintaining their mission, focusing on the U.S. food system, fair trade supply chains, and consumer-facing brands.

“Joining S2G and building out a new strategy in oceans is very exciting,” said Danaher. “I am eager to be able to support some amazing entrepreneurs making real and necessary change in the oceans and seafood space.  Larsen and I will seek out entrepreneurs that are disrupting the value chain of existing incumbents, as well as spin-out opportunities in collaboration with those incumbents.”

Larsen Mettler brings more than 16 years of experience in oceans and finance, having been an owner and CFO of Silver Bay Seafoods, an integrated fishermen-owned seafood processor with eight facilities throughout Alaska and California. Prior to Silver Bay, Mettler was a director at KeyBanc Capital Markets  where he led the firm’s Seafood Investment Banking and Corporate Lending practice. He has also held various positions with the UN, the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and DoubleClick.

“I look forward to accelerating the growth initiatives our investors and entrepreneurs are looking for from a strategic investment partner,” said Mettler. “Kate and I bring complementary experience that will help us to be a value-added partner to entrepreneurs looking to build great businesses.  Entrepreneurs in this sector are looking for more than just capital. Our skillset, in combination with S2G’s value-added toolkit, make us a partner of choice.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.