Blue Earth Capital backs Captain Fresh with €27 mn sustainability financing

Funding will help the seafood distributor expand global distribution while promoting traceable sourcing and reducing waste across the supply chain

Blue Earth Capital, the specialist global impact investor, has made €27.0 million sustainability-linked financing to Captain Fresh, a global packaged seafood company.

 

BlueEarth’s capital infusion will support the expansion of Captain Fresh’s distribution capabilities globally. The sustainability- and impact-linked characteristics of the facility work to ensure full alignment with BlueEarth’s dual mission of generating compelling social and environmental impact alongside financial returns.

 

“Through our partnership, we look forward to promoting sustainably sourced seafood, reducing waste across the value chain, and driving job creation while meeting growing global demand for traceable seafood,” said Amy Wang, head of private credit at BlueEarth.

 

Utham Gowda, CMD and group CEO, Captain Fresh, said that by bringing true source-to-shelf traceability to the seafood industry, the company is transforming a historically wasteful supply chain into one that actively protects the waters and uplifts communities whose lives depend on it. “BlueEarth's financing is a strong endorsement of our business model. It introduces a European pool of sustainability-linked impact capital into play. This partnership also gives us access to their wider network, allowing us to accelerate our operations and impact simultaneously,” said Gowda.

 

Globally, around 15 per cent of seafood is lost or wasted, driven by largely inefficient processing and discards from wild-capture harvesting. This challenge is particularly acute in emerging markets and will be increasingly relevant with the continued rise in seafood consumption. Aquaculture and wild-capture fisheries play a critical role in economic growth and job creation, with 400 to 600 million livelihoods being dependent on the sector, particularly in emerging markets.

 

The $600 billion global seafood distribution industry has traditionally been plagued by a lack of standardisation and operational complexities. These challenges stem from sub-scale, single-species-focused and distributed capacities operating under traditional management practices, often with limited access to sources, markets and capital.

 

Founded in 2020 by Utham Gowda, Captain Fresh’s strategy is anchored in building scaled, multi-species seafood brands with value-chain integration, underpinned by digital traceability. The company’s technology platform aims to reduce seafood waste and improve efficiency, enhancing margins across value-chain players while driving transparency and sustainability from source to shelf in the highly complex and fragmented seafood value chain.

 

As a powerhouse of packaged seafood brands operating across key consumption markets in the US, Europe, and the UAE, Captain Fresh is poised to accelerate the scalability of seafood as a more resource-efficient protein source with a lower carbon footprint.

 

The company’s scaling is expected to drive meaningful job creation through the expansion of its own manufacturing as well as indirect employment across partner processors, while integrating smallholder fishermen into global supply chains.